Moments That Popped: Kansas 71, Syracuse 60 in Vegas

The Kansas men's basketball team picked up its second victory of the week with another strong showing in a 71-60 win over Syracuse at the Players Era event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The Jayhawks turned in a strong first half and again got big games from big men Flory Bidunga (13 points, 14 rebounds & 2 blocks) and Bryson Tiller (11 points, 8 rebounds). The two have developed quite a chemistry playing next to each other and the rest of the KU lineup — starters and reserves alike — seems to be comfortable playing with and through both KU forwards.

• Notes & Numbers - KU-Syracuse

• Moments That Popped on Monday - KU 71, Notre Dame 61

Tuesday's win came in the Jayhawks' fifth consecutive game without star freshman Darryn Peterson, who has been ruled out for all three games in Vegas.

Peterson was with the team on Tuesday — as he was on Monday — sitting on the bench in street clothes while cheering his teammates on during the win.

Syracuse, which played Houston tough and lost to the Cougars in overtime on Monday, cut the Kansas lead down to 2 late in the game, but the Jayhawks responded with an 11-0 run to push the lead back to 13 at one point, paving the way for the win.

KU improves to 5-2 on the season and will next play a third game in the Players Era in Vegas, most likely sometime Wednesday against a yet-to-be-named opponent. More on that below.

For now, here’s a look back at some of the highlights from Tuesday afternoon in Sin City.

LIKES

• Tre White's team? – Obviously, when Peterson comes back, he's going to be the face of this program. But he'll still be a freshman who hasn't played much college basketball. White has and he looks incredibly comfortable leading this bunch and also knows how to make big-time plays in the most clutch moments. Both were a big part of Tuesday's win, where White led with grit and emotion in finishing the game with 15 points, 10 rebounds & 3 assists to help Kansas close out the victory. He had a three-point play late, with KU leading by just 4 (after leading by double-digits on a couple of occasions earlier in the game). And then he used his veteran savvy to get a Syracuse defender in the air and then draw the foul on the 3-point try. He hit all three free throws and, almost by himself, quickly turned a 4-point grinder into a 10-point KU lead with 4 minutes to play.

• Tiller in the post – The closer this kid gets to the basket, the more dangerous he becomes. And I'm not sure that dangerous is even a strong enough word to describe it. Tiller is so eager to make a play when he gets near the rim that you can almost see him jump out of his shoes to get started. He has a ridiculously good bag of weapons and can use strength, handles, touch, a hook shot, a fade-away and power to finish around the basket. When you have him out there with a guy like Bidunga — and eventually Peterson — he's going to have a ton of space to operate. And teams that try to defend him one-on-one without sending some kind of help when he catches it with his back to the basket will likely be cooked pretty quickly. Tiller had a second straight strong showing in Vegas and has been rock solid since being inserted into the starting lineup. He should stay there even when Peterson returns. That two-big lineup sure seems to work, in large part because both players are so athletic.

• McDowell starts – Jamari was in the first five in place of Kohl Rosario, and, while he did play well and looked confident and ready to take advantage of the opportunity, the bigger reason to like this move is that it shows that KU coach Bill Self is forever looking to evolve. Rosario brings a lot to the floor and plays as hard as anyone. But he hasn't looked great offensively in the first 7 games of the season. Rather than continuing to try to force it, Self gave the young freshman a break and brought him off the bench. Maybe that'll be more comfortable for him. Maybe it won't. But it's not to see the attempt at fixing a minor weakness. It's all a moot point, of course, when Peterson comes back. When that happens — next Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse vs. UConn, perhaps? — it seems pretty clear that the KU starting five will be — Council, Peterson, White, Tiller & Bidunga. Strong group.

• Lesson learned – After settling for a jumper by Melvin Council Jr. on the Jayhawks' first possession of the game, KU quickly got the message that paint touches and driving to the rim are the better option. And it was Council who made sure to learn it, knifing his way into the lane near the free throw line and then throwing it up way high in the air for Flory Bidunga to finish the lob for KU's first bucket of the day. KU coach Bill Self has preached paint touches for years. And few players are more equipped to go get them routinely than Council.

• Elmarko makes a play – This was such a small moment in this game — a hard take to the rim with the shot clock winding down — but it could wind up being a big moment for Elmarko. He's been stuck in neutral for most of the season so far, and that play could be one that helps ignite his confidence and play-maker mentality. We'll see if that's true, but it was a good sign that Jackson still has some good days coming.

DISLIKES

• Defense solid, buuuttttt... – It already seems safe to say that this version of the Kansas Jayhawks is far better defensively than anything we saw during the past couple of seasons. They grind, they compete, they play tough and physical and they're willing to sit down and guard. It's not all perfect, of course, but those elements are pretty good ingredients for a solid defensive team. KU showed big time signs of that in both Vegas games so far, but the Jayhawks weren't great at forcing turnovers in either. That's a big part of elite-level defense, and Kansas is going to need to find a way to do more of that as the year goes on.

• Late clock problems – This is where KU is probably missing Peterson the most. In the first half alone, KU saw possessions end with Melvin Council forcing a jumper to beat the clock, Council throwing a line-drive runner at the rim in the lane and Flory Bidunga pulling up his first career 3-pointer. These things happen to every team and pretty much in every game, but when you have a player like Peterson, they happen a lot less. In most of those instances, when the shot clock starts winding down, it'll be Peterson with the ball in his hands and he can either create for others, draw help or just go get his own shot whenever and wherever he wants it. There could be some things that this team has to get used to when he returns, but this will be a seamless transition.

• This format – It's not quite as big of a deal for the fans, but it affects them, too. But how about the coaches and players who are trying to scout and put together a game plan for Game No. 3 not knowing their opponent or game time until way late on Tuesday night? This tournament has already grown and expanded. It's definitely here to stay. And KU is going to be a mainstay in it. It seems safe to guess that they'll figure out the format part of it in the coming years, too. Perhaps building in a little more breathing room between the first couple of games and the later rounds. As it stands now, KU is in good shape to play for something tomorrow, even if we don't know what time or who it's against. The Jayhawks are not only 2-0 but their point differential of +21 puts them in good position to be in the title game or the third-place game. While that's important in terms of how you finish, it's even more important in this event because those are the big money rounds. Per reports, the winner gets $1 million, second place gets $500K, third brings home $300K and fourth receives $200K.

WHAT THE?

• No KU points off turnovers – KU did not score a single point off of a Syracuse turnover in this one, but made up for it by dominating in just about every other area. 49-29 on the boards. 8-4 in fastbreak points. 18-14 in second-chance points and by shooting way better percentages in both major shooting areas – 44-32 from the floor and 31-23 from 3-point range. You're not going to win many games by forcing just 2 turnovers. Especially when you turn it over 15 times yourself. But when you can find a way for everything else to click, it makes it a lot easier.

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