Kansas wasn’t having the best week by the time Saturday rolled around. The Jayhawks lost a game earlier in the week, something that doesn’t happen often, and that dropped them clear out of first place in the Big 12 – also something that doesn’t happen often. Then on Friday, Silvio De Sousa was declared ineligible this season and next season by the NCAA, and the Jayhawks could use him given how thin they are up front.
So what to do with Texas Tech coming to town? Play the best game you can and win it. And that’s what they did, handling the Red Raiders 79-63. Along the way, they provided at least a blueprint for winning from here on out.
We know that the Jayhawks will be lacking when it comes to an inside presence, at least in the traditional sense. They were already without Udoka Azubuike, and offensively, De Sousa was not a big scorer last season; how much better he would be this season is an obvious unknown since he has been held out of competition. But they have someone who can score inside, and that’s Dedric Lawson. All he did on Saturday was go 9-14 from the field en route to 25 points and 10 rebounds.
There are worse options to have than Lawson, and he did this in 28 minutes due to foul trouble – which points to why this is a concern defensively, even if less so than at the offensive end. It means that they will need Mitch Lightfoot to be serviceable at that end again and David McCormack has to grow up faster than they probably envisioned.
The Jayhawks held Texas Tech to 34.4 percent shooting. While Kansas is still a good offensive team, defense is going to matter even more now, and an added concern is rebounding. The Jayhawks were out-rebounded 42-39, which might not seem too bad, but they allowed 13 offensive rebounds.
Offensively, Kansas had 19 assists on 27 made baskets, and those makes included a 13-30 showing from long range. That means the Jayhawks moved the ball very well when they scored, as they assisted on more than 70 percent of their made baskets. Charlie Moore, a transfer from Cal who hasn’t had the kind of year that was expected, had a season-high six assists to lead the way, but several others were in on the action there as well.
It won’t hurt if the Jayhawks play with the same mentality they did on Saturday. You could tell that they were hurt by the punishment levied out to De Sousa, because he’s a teammate that they all know and care about it. Whether you like the NCAA’s decision or not, this has real effects on them for those reasons. They wanted to win Saturday for him, and if they continue this and find a way to make things work with less of a post presence, they just might win another regular season title and more. They started by salvaging what was an otherwise challenging week.
Side Dishes
For more notes on game action on Saturday, please check out the Saturday Notes.
One game noted in the Saturday Notes is Norfolk State rallying from being down by as many as 24 points to beat Howard in the nation’s capital. As that game, which reports indicate was chippy right from the outset, came to an end, a brouhaha broke out that spilled off the court. It’s not clear what precipitated the activity, but one has to think there will be some disciplinary action, especially since Howard head coach Kevin Nickelberry could be seen being held back from a Norfolk State player. Howard released a statement expressing disappointment and saying they will review the tape and forward a copy of it to the MEAC office.
Virginia Tech won ugly at NC State, but the Hokies will be without Justin Robinson for an unknown period of time due to a foot injury. Robinson is one of the most underrated players in the country, hidden because he doesn’t play for Duke or North Carolina in the ACC, so this will not be a small loss.
Tonight’s Menu
With Super Bowl LIII on tap at 6:30 p.m., it’s no surprise that the slate is light and all 12 games should be done before kickoff.
- In Big East action, Villanova hosts Georgetown (noon) and Creighton hosts Xavier (1 p.m.)
- Purdue tries to stay hot as they host Minnesota (noon)
- Clemson hosts Wake Forest in the lone ACC game of the day (1 p.m.)
- One America East game is on tap, with New Hampshire traveling north to Maine (1 p.m.)
- Horizon League action has IUPUI hosting Wright State (1 p.m.) and UIC hosting Northern Kentucky (4 p.m.)
- In Summit League action, North Dakota goes to Omaha (1 p.m.) and Denver hosts South Dakota State (3 p.m.)
- Niagara hosts Quinnipiac in the lone MAAC game of the day (2 p.m.)
- Two teams struggling in American Athletic Conference play meet as UConn hosts East Carolina (2 p.m.)
- The lone Pac-12 game of the day is a big rivalry game with Cal hosting Stanford (4 p.m.)
