1 – Dajuan Harris Jr. – The defense in the second half was elite, but his offense was equally as important to the outcome of the game. KU doesn’t win this game if Harris doesn’t assert himself on the offensive end in the second half. And he did just that, starting on the first play of the second frame. From there, KU followed suit, the building caught fire and Baylor stood no chance. When asked about the second-half spark after the game, KU coach Bill Self noted that Harris did not have anywhere to go in the first half because of bad ball and body movement by the rest of the Jayhawks. So, yeah, it’s important for Harris to look to be aggressive every time out, but he won’t be able to do it alone nor will he succeed if his teammates aren’t playing the right way, as well.
2 – Jalen Wilson – Self credited McCullar, along with Harris, for much of the Jayhawks’ comeback. And deservedly so. His defense in the second half was equal to Harris’ and it also played a major role in KU winning the game. For my money, though, it was Wilson who had the next best game behind Harris. His flat-out desire to will the Jayhawks back into the game by rebounding, attacking and competing was contagious and played a huge role in waking up his team. It started at the tail end of the first half and he carried it over to the second half. If it wasn’t already decided before that, Wilson, who finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and one big victory, won Big 12 Player of the Year because of this game in my mind.
3 – Kevin McCullar Jr. – Give McCullar a ton of credit for gutting this one out. I thought I saw signs of the banged up ankle bothering him early in the game, but he never let it take him out of the game. He competed hard, defended at an elite level (in the second half) and was a big reason the Jayhawks came up with arguably their biggest win of the season to date. He even finally hit a jump shot late in the game, after taking and missing some questionable jumpers early in the game. At this point, it’s all about health for McCullar. If he can stay healthy, Kansas can go far with him bringing defense and athleticism to the table to complement his teammates. He caught a little bit of a rest (29 minutes instead of the 36 minutes averaged by KU’s four other starters), so maybe that was helpful toward getting him back closer to 100%. The reality here is he’s probably not going to be 100% the rest of the season. Much like David McCormack’s injury plight last year, it’ll be about managing it for McCullar.
4 – Gradey Dick – The KU freshman hit just 6 of 18 shots in this one, and 2 of 9 3-pointers. But one of them was massive, as it gave the Jayhawks a 50-49 lead (their first since 9-7) and really sent the Fieldhouse faithful into a frenzy. Gradey was active and aggressive throughout this game on the defensive end, competing hard even when it didn’t lead to stops or success. That’s the kind of Gradey this team needs moving forward (maybe with a couple more makes mixed in) and he got to that point by following the lead of Harris and Wilson. Good idea. More of that makes this team even more dangerous.
5 – KJ Adams – Adams was good not great in this one, but it’s hard to argue with 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting overall and 7-of-9 shooting at the free throw line. Those free throws are HUGE for Adams the rest of the way. He’ll keep getting to the line and he has to hit them. The rest is already there. He plays hard, as physical as he can, competes against guys bigger than him and can get out and run the floor, which seems to be an overlooked and underappreciated skill that he brings to this roster. Never was that on display better than when he sprinted to get behind the Baylor D and caught a perfect pass from Harris, who showed off his wizardry just to get control of the ball, and finished with a energy-injecting slam.
6 – Bobby Pettiford – The numbers won’t wow you, but the production should. Pettiford played 15 key minutes in this one, coming off the bench to give Kansas another quick guard on the floor to match up with what Baylor brought. He hit the only two shots he attempted, including a rare 3-pointer, and appeared to be in attack mode throughout the game. That’s likely tied to his confidence and his confidence is almost entirely tied to his health. Pettiford’s another one the Jayhawks need to get and say healthy. If he does, he can be a big time X factor for this team in March.
7 – Ernest Udeh Jr. – Udeh wasn’t asked to do much in this game, but he did enough to feel good about his continued growth, maturity and development. He played just 7 minutes and made the only two shots he attempted while hitting one of two free throws. More important than any of that, though, was his ability to once again switch a ball screen and stay in front of a Baylor guard. The AFH crowd lit up and let him hear it when he did it, and that — as we saw at Oklahoma — can be a real weapon for this team and can help ensure that Udeh has a role night in and night out, no matter who the Jayhawks are playing.
8 – Joe Yesufu – A bunch of zeroes on the stat sheet for Yesufu in 5:09 of action. He was yanked after mixing up an assignment and never needed again because of the play of Pettiford and KU’s reliance on its starting five in this one. Same old, same old for Yesufu, who will flush that one, regoup and get ready for the next one.
Season standings
———–
1 – Jalen Wilson, 218
2 – Dajuan Harris Jr., 194
3 – Gradey Dick, 176
4 – KJ Adams, 175
5 – Kevin McCullar Jr., 169o
6 – Bobby Pettiford, 102
7 – Joe Yesufu, 95
8 – Ernest Udeh Jr., 70
9 – MJ Rice, 60y
10 – Zuby Ejiofor, 57u
11 – Zach Clemence, 44z
12 – Cam Martin, 11q
13 – Kyle Cuffe Jr., 2x
*x – Out for 10-12 weeks with a knee injury starting Nov. 13*
*y – Missed 3 of the first 5 games of the season because of injury and illness; also sat out games because of COVID, kidney stones and back spasms*
*z – Missed Duke, Southern Utah and NC State games because of injury. Also injured a knee in road loss at Iowa State, which caused him to miss more time*
*o – Missed Nov. 29 game vs. Texas Southern with a groin injury
*q – Missed first nine games of the season with shoulder injury
*u – Missed a few weeks during the middle of the Big 12 season with a foot injury*
