Norman, Okla. — Kansas freshman Ernest Udeh Jr., played a season-high 17 minutes in the 9th-ranked Jayhawks’ 78-55 win over Oklahoma on Saturday.
And he made nearly every one of them count.
“He was great,” KU coach Bill Self said after watching the freshman big man score eight points on 4-of-4 shooting — all lobs — in the runaway road victory. “Ball screens are great. But to be effective in a ball screen, you need to be able to at least challenge the rim sometimes. That was big that (we got) a rim runner.”
Udeh and his 6-foot-11 standing height, 250 pounds and nearly 7-foot wingspan was so much more than that in this one.
The lobs were important and they delivered eight easy points on a day when KU’s offense started slowly. But he also blocked two shots, swiped two steals, grabbed four rebounds and impacted at least a half a dozen other plays with his effort, energy and intensity.
Never was that more evident than late in the first half, with KU leading 23-20, when Udeh swiped at a ball above the 3-point line, dove for it after it came loose and watched it end up in teammate Jalen Wilson’s hands for a breakaway layup and a five-point Kansas lead.
That spurt came during a 20-4 run by Kansas to close the half, one that was awfully similar to the one the Jayhawks closed the game on when the Sooners came to Lawrence in January.
“Great length, athletic, energy-type guy; we were talking about that in the locker room. Player of the game, right there,” KU freshman Gradey Dick said of Udeh.
Added Dick of that first-half run, as well as the 11-4 run KU hit OU with after the Sooners had trimmed KU’s 13-point halftime lead to just five (37-32) 92 seconds into the second half: “(Those runs) were pretty significant. That was the energy points that we needed and we really carried that throughout the game.”
Self said Udeh’s production during the past couple of weeks — starting with the win at Kentucky on Jan. 28 — have been the result of a new mindset for the freshman who continues to gain both experience and confidence every time out.
“He’s been better,” Self said. “He’s playing to his athletic ability. He seems more locked in, taking it serious. He’s a fun-loving kid and sometimes with that maybe you don’t take it quite as serious all the time. But he’s been much better.”
In addition to priding himself on staying ready and positive during the stretches of the season when he wasn’t playing much, Udeh said he has tried to focus on doing whatever the coaches ask of him. Whether that’s in practice, on game day, with the scouting report, getting treatment or remembering the plays, he’s willing to do it.
That selfless approach to the game has helped him feel better about his role and its importance and it has created a different vibe when he’s on the floor. The little things matter. Sitting down on defense after a switch and forcing a shot clock violation — as he did on Saturday — is just as important to the team’s bottom line as a highlight-reel dunk that winds up on SportsCenter.
“The biggest thing I can do to give myself the best chance to be on the floor and give my team the best chance to win is to do everything coach asks me,” Udeh said. “I take pride in being able to switch on a guard. I’d (be fine scoring) zero points, but if I’m sitting on every guard that comes off a ball screen if we’re switching, I’m the happiest kid on Earth.”
Confidence is the key to all of it, and Udeh said his confidence was high right now.
“I can generate so much of my own confidence,” he said. “But my team gives me the rest of it.”
Double-digit wins have been tough to come by in the Big 12 this season, Kansas got one on Saturday, thanks to a variety of contributions from a number of different Jayhawks.
Junior forward Jalen Wilson got back in the scoring groove with 18 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Junior point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. remained aggressive on offense and scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. And six different Jayhawks scored at least eight points in KU’s latest victory.
Self said he was most proud of the way his team guarded the Sooners, who finished 20-of-56 overall (36%) and just 4-of-17 (24%) from 3-point range. The Jayhawks also forced 24 OU turnovers — 16 by way of KU steals — and scored 27 points off of those giveaways. The Jayhawks also limited OU guard Grant Sherfield to 10 points, on 4-of-14 shooting, instead of the 25 he scored in Lawrence.
“That was our emphasis, to not let him beat us,” Self said of Sherfield.
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PHOTO GALLERY: Kansas basketball at Oklahoma
Box score: Kansas 78, Oklahoma 55
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That effort allowed the Jayhawks (20-5 overall, 8-4 Big 12) to remain poised when OU (12-13, 2-10) opened the game on a 10-4 run and still held the lead as late as the 5:21 mark of the first half.
“If we didn’t guard them fairly well to start the game, we’d (have been) down 18-4 instead of (10-4),” Self said. “It wasn’t like our defense was bad, it was just that our offense was so bad.”
It didn’t stay that way for long. KU responded to a 2-of-14 shooting clip to open the game by hitting 13 of its final 16 shots of the first half. Kansas finished the game at 55% overall and 50% from 3-point range.
But it was the relatively small number of 3-point attempts and not necessarily the impressive percentage that had Self most pleased after the win.
“I think we became a team that everybody was nervous about our 3s and (they) did a better job defending the arc, to a team now that’s getting downhill more and scoring more points at the rim,” Self said of the Jayhawks, who outscored OU 50-28 in points in the paint.
Saturday marked the second game in a row that the Jayhawks had reached 50 points in the paint. According to Wilson, that was merely one of the biggest signs that this team has flipped the switch to understanding that it’s effort and energy that wins games, with or without the style points that so many players and teams covet.
“I came into the game worrying about defense,” said Wilson, the Big 12’s leading scorer. “I wanted to start off the game strong, as far as us guarding the ball and stuff like that. When you have the right mindset, things go the right way.”
After a quick trip home, the Jayhawks will be back in the Sooner State on Tuesday for an 8 p.m. showdown with Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Tuesday night.
