No. 9 Kansas looked like a completely different team in Monday’s 88-80 win over No. 5 Texas in Allen Fieldhouse, at least compared to Saturday’s road loss to Iowa State.
Against the Cyclones, the Jayhawks were far too reliant on Jalen Wilson, who leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20.7 points per game. But they only needed two points from him against the Longhorns. Kansas struggled to get 50/50 balls in Ames, but seemingly snatched every loose ball in Lawrence.
Yet, the biggest difference between the two games — one, a 15-point blowout loss and the other an eight-point, gotta-have-it home win — was the production near the basket. Kansas scored 50 points in the paint against Texas after mustering just eight points in the lane two days prior to that, something that was emphasized by the coaching staff on a short turnaround.
“I bet our paint touches were a minimum three times or four times better (against Texas) than they were on Saturday,” Kansas coach Bill Self said Monday night. “It was encouraging to me that I thought everybody — with the exception of Jalen who is our best at driving it downhill — I thought everybody drove it downhill and got paint touches.”
Indeed, the Jayhawks got the rim at will against the Longhorns on Monday. The 50 points in the paint tied a season-high, matching performances against Indiana and Southern Utah.
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PHOTO GALLERY: Kansas vs. Texas
Box score: Kansas 88, Texas 80
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According to Bart Torvik’s analytical website, Kansas took 34 shots at the rim and made 24 of them. It marked the most such baskets and second-most attempts for KU this season, as it went 23-for-38 during a 84-62 win over Indiana.
Many of KU’s best offensive performances have come when the team has taken more shots at the rim, but perhaps even more noteworthy, the losses have typically been a result of inefficient shot selection. Kansas went 4-for-6 on shots at the rim against Iowa State on Saturday, for example. The Jayhawks never made more than 15 shots at the rim in a game during their losing skid in January.
“When you look at when we didn’t play well, we didn’t get points in the paint,” Self said. “We (have) to be about eight touches off the pass or the bounce, one way or another, and tonight we were successful.”
Part of Monday’s success was due to the way Texas elected to defend Kansas. Most opponents have sagged off non-shooters while playing drop coverage against KU’s pick-and-rolls, but the Longhorns played ball-denial pressure defense and dared the Jayhawks to drive it.
And all eight available scholarship players for Kansas obliged.
Point guard Dajuan Harris Jr., who was as aggressive as he’s ever been in a Jayhawk uniform, took a career-high 16 shots and went 5-for-6 on attempts at the rim.
“The Iowa State game, I didn’t get to the paint at all really,” Harris said. “My main focus was getting downhill and that’s what I did today.”
juan gettin’ fancy wit it ???? pic.twitter.com/0SPvU4enMD
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) February 7, 2023
With Harris setting the tone from start to finish, all eight players took at least three shots at the rim. Freshman sharpshooter Gradey Dick was 4-for-4 on such looks, while Kevin McCullar Jr. converted on a trio of and-one opportunities to finish 3-for-4 at the rim. KJ Adams went 3-for-5 near the hoop, and backup big man Ernest Udeh Jr. made all three of his shots at the basket.
Reserves Joe Yesufu and MJ Rice took nine attempts at the basket, with the former going 4-for-5 during a 14-point performance. Monday’s collective mindset was rooted in math, but it really isn’t too complicated. The Jayhawks simply do better offensively when they get more efficient looks.
“We score 1.2 points every possession we get in the paint, so we just emphasize that in practice,” Yesufu said, reciting stats shared with him and the rest of the team by Self on Sunday night.
As for how Kansas players were motivated to get good looks, well, the coaching staff has used an interesting tactic in the past. If players don’t get a certain amount of paint touches in practice, they will have to run on a treadmill on the sideline with the incline setting maxed out.
“It motivated us,” Dick said. “We stayed off it.”
The emphasis on getting to the rim not only leads to better shots, but it shows the Jayhawks can still produce in the paint without a traditional big man.
For the season, Kansas has taken 36.8% of its shots at the rim, per hoop-math.com, and is shooting 60.7% on such opportunities so far. For comparison, KU leaned on David McCormack inside last year and got 39.7% of its shots at the rim and converted 63.4% of those looks.
Wilson, who is a National Player of the Year candidate, has been a big reason for KU’s performance in that department this season. He has shown he can consistently beat his defender off the dribble, and has managed to average better than 20 points per game while taking 28% of his field goal attempts right at the basket.
But Monday’s bounce-back win over Texas proved Wilson’s teammates are capable of helping out more in that area, which is a promising sign entering the final weeks of the regular season.
“We did have some good finishes at the rim early in the game, but we also had some misses too,” Self said. “I really thought we executed offensively about as well as we could.”
KU’s shots at the rim in 2022-23
(Data via Bart Torvik)
vs. Texas: 24-for-34
at Iowa State: 4-for-6
vs. Kansas State: 13-for-22
at Kentucky: 17-for-23
at Baylor: 15-for-21
vs. TCU: 11-for-21
at Kansas State: 8-for-11
vs. Iowa State: 8-for-12
vs. Oklahoma: 11-for-32
at West Virginia: 9-for-18
at Texas Tech: 12-for-20
vs. Oklahoma State: 10-for-19
vs. Harvard: 17-for-30
vs. Indiana: 23-for-38
at Missouri: 23-for-33
vs. Seton Hall: 17-for-24
vs. Texas Southern: 12-for-17
vs. Tennessee: 7-for-19
vs. Wisconsin: 10-for-17
vs. NC State: 12-for-22
vs. Southern Utah: 18-for-28
vs. Duke: 22-for-29
vs. North Dakota State: 20-for-30
vs. Nebraska Omaha: 22-for-31
