It certainly was a weird night in New York City, one that began with many people — including oddsmakers in Las Vegas — thinking they would see an easy Duke win only to watch Kansas battle hard in a 78-66 loss at Madison Square Garden.
The Jayhawks led for 12:37 of the first half and controlled much of the game up to that point, while also battling to be as close as three with five minutes to play.
But KU, playing without superstar freshman Darryn Peterson, didn’t have enough offense and could not get key stops when it mattered most.
• Notes & Numbers from KU-Duke in NYC
KU guard Melvin Council Jr.’s first 3-pointer of the season in 11 tries cut the Duke lead to 67-64 with about 5 minutes to play. But the Blue Devils didn’t blink, ripping off a 7-0 run to reclaim complete control of the game heading into the final couple of minutes and finishing the game with an 11-2 run to cover the spread and take the victory.
KU forward Tre White led all scorers with 22 points, while Melvin Council Jr. had a feast-or-famine kind of night in scoring 15.
Flory Bidunga had some big moments en route to 14 points and 6 boards, but he also was plagued by foul trouble, a staple of the Flory Bidunga Experience so far in his career.
Duke was led by freshman sensation Cameron Boozer, who hit the Jayhawks for 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in the win.
KU falls to 3-2 on the season and will next play Notre Dame at 2:30 p.m. (central) on Monday in the Players Era event in Las Vegas.
Duke is now 5-0 on the season.
Here’s a look back at some of the highlights from Tuesday night at the Garden.
LIKES
• Tre White is officially a Jayhawk – It took him a while to get to Lawrence, with three other stops over three years. But the guy who committed to KU early on in high school finally made his way to the program, and, on Tuesday night, officially became a Jayhawk. He played with poise, confidence, swagger and toughness and absolutely carried Kansas at times, keeping the Jayhawks in the game for much of the first half and into the second half. No one’s going to go out of their way to celebrate battling and keeping the game close, but given that this is a new team and the Jayhawks were without Darryn Peterson — do they win with him? — having a performance and effort like the one they got from White was huge in terms of what this team is trying to build. White’s a leader, a veteran and a Jayhawk.
• Defense leads to offense – KU outscored the Blue Devils 11-3 in the game’s first 12 minutes in transition points, and so many of those came off of KU’s pressure defensively and steals that led to easy baskets. It’s impossible to overstate how important that is when you’re talking about a team that is trying to find a way to replace the points provided by a guy like Peterson. And while sets, overall game plan and hot shooting can do it, nothing does it quite as well or as easily as layups and dunks on the break. Really, really good execution of a perfect point of emphasis by Kansas.
• Early pace and competitiveness – It was damn near the perfect start for Kansas. After a ton of talk about how KU would be without superstar guard Darryn Peterson, the Jayhawks showed that they didn’t care and were going to show up to battle even without him. KU pushed the tempo with pace from its defense and rebounding and did not look timid at all. Multiple players attacked the rim in transition and in the halfcourt, and there was little hesitation from any of them. The Jayhawks very much looked like they were the team with nothing to lose and built early leads of 15-10 and 18-12 as a result.
• Flory belongs – He didn’t do quite what he needed to, thanks in large part to another game in foul trouble. But KU’s sophomore big man showed he can battle with anybody on the big stage when it comes to athleticism, highlights and competing on both ends of the floor. Flory Bidunga started fast and looked good in the early going and then delivered a reverse dunk seemingly out of nowhere on the first possession of the second half. Not long after that, he made a terrific adjustment in the lane to reject what looked like an easy bucket for Boozer. And he later finished a vicious dunk over the Duke freshman. The foul trouble kept him from really uncorking it, but he still was pretty efficient in his 29 minutes on the floor, finishing with 14 and 6 on 7-of-10 shooting.
• Dawson gaining on it – There was a time when Jayden Dawson was an expected starter. But an offseason injury set him back and he hasn’t really done much in the early going. That all changed Tuesday, when he looked, for the second game in a row, like a poised veteran who belongs in KU’s rotation. Dawson even started the second half in place of Kohl Rosario, and he finished the night with 5 points, 2 assists and a steal in 28 minutes. It wasn’t the numbers but the way he played and how he carried himself that made Dawson stand out. If he can take another couple steps in the weeks to come, KU could have something by January.
DISLIKES
• Duke lived around the rim – The shortest player the Blue Devils played on Tuesday night stood 6 feet, 4 inches tall. Needless to say, the Blue Devils are a big team, and even their guards found easy points all night long by powering and bulling past KU’s defense and getting to the rim for layups and shots from close range. Duke finished with 38 points in the paint — which was actually two fewer than KU had — but it seemed like just about every big bucket it got came right at the rim, particularly during the first-half stretch where Duke took the lead and never gave it back. Beyond that, Duke’s presence inside also led directly to KU’s foul trouble, which played a huge role in this one.
• Tough stretch to end first half – Speaking of foul trouble, late in the first half, the Jayhawks had Flory Bidunga, Bryson Tiller and Tre White all on the bench with 2 fouls, forcing Self to go with a lineup that gave him next to nothing. Melvin Council Jr., Kohl Rosario, Elmarko Jackson, Jamari McDowell and Paul Mbiya may never play together again. They simply did not have enough pop and presence to compete with a top-five team like Duke in a game like this. Self didn’t let things stay that way, plugging White back into the game to try to help KU survive to halftime. But the damage was still done and Kansas trailed by 8 at the break. Tiller eventually fouled out, Flory got his 4th and that, as much as almost anything, played a big role in KU not quite having enough in this one. Duke closed the first half on a 17-5 run after Bidunga hit the bench.
• 3-point shooting woes – Three days after shooting just 5-for-21 from 3-point range in a tougher-than-it-had-to-be home battle with Princeton, Kansas shot 4-for-21 from downtown in this one, with Tre White (2-for-4) being the only player to shoot better than 25% from behind the arc. Getting Peterson back, whenever that happens, will help this. But there’s little doubt that KU’s going to need more shooting from other guys to reach its ceiling. Kohl Rosario missed all five 3s he attempted against Duke. And Jayden Dawson was 1-for-5. Those two will play — they’re undeniably in the top seven in the rotation — and they simply have to make shots.
WHAT THE?
• Veterans no-show – Entering the season, KU guards Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell were the only other players on this roster not named Flory Bidunga to have played meaningful minutes for the Jayhawks. So, the hope was that one or perhaps both could be a key part of KU’s depth and rotation this year. That hasn’t materialized yet and the very idea may be on life support. The two combined for just 7 minutes — 6 for Elmarko and 1 for Jamari — and neither played at all in the second half until Jackson checked in during the final minute with the game already out of reach. Jackson’s still coming off of injury and deserves time to see if he can find it again. But, right now, neither looks remotely comfortable nor ready to help this team at all.
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