The 11th-ranked Kansas men’s basketball team trotted out the starting lineup of Dajuan Harris Jr., Shak Moore, Zeke Mayo, KJ Adams and Hunter Dickinson for the second game in a row and picked up its second win in a row as a result.
It wasn’t all pretty or perfect, but that group, across the board, delivered solid efforts on both ends of the floor, allowing the Jayhawks’ bench to find its spots in a 74-55 win over Arizona State on Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
PHOTO GALLERY FROM KU-ASU @ AFH
Defense and transition offense were a big factor in this latest win, which featured KU trailing at halftime but dominating the second half.
KU limited Arizona State to just 13 points in the 2nd half, the fewest since TCU scored 9 points in the first half of a game against the Jayhawks in 2013.
Zeke Mayo led the Jayhawks with 23 points, including five 3-pointers, and Hunter Dickinson
Next up, KU (11-3 overall, 2-1 Big 12) will head back out on the road for a 1 p.m. tipoff on Saturday against Cincinnati on ESPN+.
Here’s a look back at some of Wednesday’s action against the Sun Devils (10-4, 1-2).
LIKES
• Full-court pressure – It was pretty much just on a series of inbounds passes after KU makes, but it worked brilliantly and it served as a reminder to Arizona State that the Jayhawks weren’t just going to let them get comfortable and into their sets. As soon as the ball was successfully inbounded, KU backed off, but just turning up the heat for a heartbeat or two seemed to make the Sun Devils uncomfortable and out of sorts on the ensuing possessions.
• Guards on the defensive glass – It’s such a simple thing, and it should be a given, but that isn’t always the case. That’s what made it stand out so much on Wednesday night. In the first half alone, four different KU guards — Shak Moore, Diggy Coit, Dajuan Harris Jr., and Rylan Griffen — got to the defensive glass to eliminate several second-chance opportunities for the Sun Devils. That’s not to say it was all roses for Kansas in the rebounding department on Wednesday night. But a lot of the reason for that was on the KU big men moreso than the guards.
• Dajuan steals 2 in a hurry – The play that jump-started the polar opposite of KU’s last start inside Allen Fieldhouse came just 30 seconds into the game, courtesy of senior point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. After KU big man Hunter Dickinson scored in the post to open the game, Harris jumped the ASU inbounds pass that followed and quickly went to the rim after the steal, drawing the quick foul at the 19:27 mark of the first half. Harris hit both free throws to give KU a 4-0 lead and Dickinson scored again on the very next Kansas possession to grab a 6-0 lead behind a much better start than the one the Jayhawks showcased against West Virginia 9 days ago.
• Rotation looks right – Self has talked about wanting to limit minutes of some of his starters/older players and he was slow to do that throughout most of non-con play. But he appears to be fully committed to it right now, or at least fully committed to making sure he tries to do it. Getting Shak Moore back and healthy is a huge part of that, and it has allowed him to sit Harris more than he has in a long, long time. Same with Flory Bidunga’s emergence for the minutes of KJ Adams and Hunter Dickinson and for Rylan Griffen, who appears to have turned a corner in terms of energy and engagement on the court. He finally looks comfortable, two games in a row now. And, more than that, it has helped the entire KU rotation find a groove, too.
DISLIKES
• AJ Storr’s latest rough stretch – It came midway through the first half, after Storr was again the ninth man to check into the game for the Jayhawks, and it was clear that he just didn’t have much fire or confidence. He threw the ball away in the backcourt on one of his first touches, nearly turned it over again on offense and lasted all of 3 minutes, checking out with 2 turnovers, 1 foul and 1 missed shot on his only attempt.
• Fire goes out mid-1st half – After a strong start to the game, Kansas seemed to lose its edge midway through the first half, when Arizona State took the lead and took control of both the pace and feel of the game. The Jayhawks’ struggles were tough to explain, but could’ve been related to some of the lineups that were on the floor. And it was significant enough that they went into the locker room at halftime trailing by 6 after giving up 42 first-half points. Because of that, halftime came at a good time for the home team, which opened the second half with much better energy and effort, looking again like it was playing with a little bit of that desperate-type vibe that Self said worked so well in the road win at UCF last weekend.
WHAT THE?
• SEND IT IN, BIG FELLA – After back-to-back below-the-rim misses early in the second half, KU big man Hunter Dickinson grew tired of the act and decided to change it on his next opportunity. Running in transition, Dickinson caught a pass inside the free throw line and immediately attacked the rim to dunk the ball. He did, with his right hand, while being knocked to the ground for the hoop and the harm. Dickinson, who has been criticized for his inconsistent play right at the rim, hopped up with a little fire and then calmly went to the free throw line to complete the old-fashioned three-point play. The wildest part about the whole sequence was the fact that after Dickinson’s second miss, which hit the bottom of the rim, Self went to Flory Bidunga on the bench to check in for him. I doubt Dickinson saw that, but the timing of him deciding to get nasty was hilarious. After the free throw make, Bidunga checked in for Dickinson anyway, with Dickinson receiving a loud ovation as he went to the bench. The play gave KU its first lead of the second half, 43-42, with 16 minutes to play.
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com
