Moments That Popped: No. 11 Kansas 71, Utah 59

Good enough but certainly not good.

That's about the only way to describe Saturday's 71-59 win by 11th-ranked KU over a Utah team that sits at No. 123 in the KenPom.com rankings.

The ho-hum, got-it-done victory marked KU's seventh straight win after a 1-2 start in Big 12 play. It sets up a serious showdown with No. 1 and unbeaten Arizona on Monday night at

The Jayhawks had stretches of good moments and good energy but were largely sluggish throughout the game, save for a few lobs and blocks by Flory Bidunga and a couple of highlight buckets by Darryn Peterson and Melvin Council Jr.

Bidunga recorded a career high with 7 blocks, dominating the paint after a rough start that featured Utah scoring a couple of easy baskets right at the rim and right over a flat-footed Bidunga. Bidunga added a double-double of 17 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.

Here's a look at block No. 6 on the day, which tied a career-high for the Kansas sophomore.

Utah showed some fight in the first couple of minutes of the second half, but the Jayhawks responded by regaining control and then cruised from there.

KU coach Bill Self said after the win that it wasn't pretty but praised them for getting through it and added that now they can move on to the big game vs. No. 1 on Monday night.

Next up, KU (18-5 overall, 8-2 Big 12) will host would could go down as the game of the year at Allen Fieldhouse, when No. 1 and unbeaten Arizona comes to town for a Big Monday battle on ESPN.

The Jayhawks first began preparing for Arizona at this Wednesday's practice. It wasn't a lot but it was a look. He said they'll go 30 minutes on Sunday and then "let it roll Monday night."

Before we get there, here's a look back at some of Saturday's action.

LIKES

• Council continues to cook - Darryn Peterson gets so many headlines and creates so many highlights. But, boy, was Melvin Council Jr. correct when he said he's the keys that make the car go. Every time he's on the floor — and also when he's off the floor — you see that more and more clearly. Through his hustle and effort plays. Through the way he defends and the pace with which he plays. And through his ability to create offense and energy for everyone in the KU lineup and most people in the stands, as well. It's pretty simple stuff, really. He cares and he tries. Beyond that, he's just out there playing basketball and doing it really, really well. Council finished with 11 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds in 32 minutes.

• Lobs from the middle - Bryson Tiller has become a bona fide weapon in the middle of the paint as a passer. Twice on Saturday, including at a key time early in the second half when Utah was within two, he caught a pass in the blue paint and quickly turned to the basket to toss a lob to Flory Bidunga. Bidunga flushed it home both times for easy points for the Jayhawks. This development is just another sign of Tiller's growth and comfort as a player for the Jayhawks this season.

• Field goal defense - KU held Utah to 40% shooting on the day and the Utes spent much of the afternoon shooting in the 30s. That, along with the Jayhawks out-rebounding Utah for the game and doing a pretty good job of cleaning up the glass after good first-shot defense. Self pointed out on a couple of occasions in the postgame presser that he thought the Jayhawks' defense "wasn't bad." And if it had been, this might've been even more uncomfortable than it already was.

• DP's minutes - He didn't have his best day and Utah coach Alex Jensen said the Utes' game plan was to try to get the ball out of Darryn Peterson's hands as much as possible — be more aggressive and less reactive with their D. But there was one really, really good sign about DP's day. He led the Jayhawks in minutes played. Self smiled when asked about it, noting that that's two games in a row where DP has played 33 minutes. "That's great," Self said. He added that Peterson's highlight dunk, which came well into the second half, was awesome both because of the style points involved and the fact that he was able to explode like that after playing 27 minutes already.

• Trailblazer honorees - The latest Jayhawks honored in the Marian Washington Trailblazer Series were celebrated during halftime of Saturday's game. Former track and field standout Ernie Shelby joined legendary women's hoops star Lynette Woodard as this year's honorees. Shelby was not able to attend but Woodard was here and the videos of their time and impact on Kansas athletics was celebrated by the 15,000+ fans in the stands on Saturday afternoon. Woodard has been a semi-regular supporter of all things Kansas basketball, particularly the women's program. Woodard said she was thrilled to be honored with this distinction, especially with it being named for her former coach.

DISLIKES

• Sleepwalking to start both halves - Any time you get a game like this, with a red-hot team facing a bottom feeder at home, the potential exists for the favored team to come out flat. And that's exactly what KU did in this one for the first 5 minutes. Sluggish on offense. Slow to react on defense. Largely just going through the motions. That changed at the Under-16 timeout and the Jayhawks attacked the next 5 minutes with much more purpose and passion. That turned an early 4-point deficit into a 4-point lead, with KU gaining complete control of the game by the Under-12 timeout. KU led by 7 at the break, nothing to write home about but nothing to worry about either. But Utah opened the 2nd half with a 5-0 run to cut the KU lead to 2, prompting Self to call a timeout 1:24 into the second frame.

• Not much run for the KU bench - The matchup led many to believe that this could be a nice day for reserves Jayden Dawson, Kohl Rosario and one or two more to get extended minutes in an easy win. That was especially true with Elmarko Jackson questionable and ultimately not playing. It didn't happen, though. Utah kept it close, forcing KU to keep its starters out there and guys like Rosario and Dawson were limited to just 6 minutes apiece. A couple of those came late, with the game already decided. Self said earlier this week that finding some more depth and production from the bench was important. But he didn't seem overly worried about it, which was reflected in the way he handed out the minutes in this one.

WHAT THE?

• Buzzer beater? - KU fans were furious while watching the repeated replay of Bryson Tiller's angle jumper just before halftime that came off of an inbounds play with 0.3 seconds to play in the half. The replay made it look awfully close and it might've even appeared as if Tiller released the ball before the red light around the backboard came on. He may have. But years ago basketball rules were amended to determine that the only way a team can score with 0.3 seconds or less remaining on the clock is by tip-in. A catch-and-shoot is not permitted. In the NBA, they call it the Trent Tucker Rule and NCAA officiating crews follow the same procedure. If you watched or catch the replay, you'll see they waved it off as soon as Tiller caught it and even before they waited to see if it went in or was released in time. qw

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