**1 – KJ Adams -** This guy is on one heck of a heater and you’d never know it from talking to him. Adams continues to do everything that’s asked of him, including putting the team first, which is something that’s incredibly easy and natural for him. He finished with a career-high 22 points and made some of the biggest baskets of the game, off of dunks, rolls to the rim and even an early post-up. Adams wasn’t perfect. Like many of his teammates, he, too, missed a few more bunnies inside than he would’ve liked. But Oklahoma played at least some kind of role in that. His dunk keyed [the frantic final 5 minutes][1] and helped the 2nd-ranked Jayhawks survive with [a 79-75 win to move to 4-0 in Big 12 play.][2] One thing that stood out about this game, other than his 10 first-half points and new career-high point total, was how Adams played defensively. The numbers don’t really show it, but his confidence on offense is starting to carry over to his defense and he’s playing well around the rim on both ends of the floor. The crazy thing is, there’s still room for him to improve and if he does this team becomes that much better. As Jalen Wilson said on Tuesday night, “he’s a winner.”
**2 – Dajuan Harris Jr. -** The KU point guard finished with 11 points, 5 assists and 1 turnover in 35 minutes and shot 4-of-9 from the floor, misfiring on his only 3-point attempt. While those numbers seem a little pedestrian, he was pretty close from a double-double, as the 21 missed layups by KU cost him a handful of assists. Like KU coach Bill Self’s explanation of shooting — a good shot is not determined by whether it goes in or not — Harris did all he could do in this one and delivered what he needed to deliver. Most of the time, his teammates will finish those plays and his stat line will look better. As for the single 3-point attempt for a player who has been red hot from the outside in Big 12 play, I wouldn’t sweat that. It was OU’s plan to try to limit KU’s 3-point looks and they did a terrific job at executing them. Credit Harris for not forcing up 3-pointers just because he had been hitting them lately.
**3 – Jalen Wilson -** It was another off shooting night for Wilson, who continued to try to force the issue but never found much rhythm. Credit to OU for that, as the Sooners defended him with size and physicality all night. Wilson got the last laugh, of course, knocking in 10 of 12 of free throws — a couple of really clutch ones, too — and a huge 3-pointer late that likely saved Kansas. In the end, Wilson finished with 17 points — just a few below his season average — and 8 rebounds, numbers that make it look like he had a pretty solid and productive night. He did, of course, but only because Kansas won. There’s so much attention and pressure on Wilson right now to deliver for this team, and whether he’s shooting it well or not, he always seems to find a way to come through. Wilson’s average is now right at 20 points per game, and even though his scoring has been harder to come by since the start of Big 12 play, he still has scored 20, 16, 14 and now 17 against Big 12 defenses.
**4 – Kevin McCullar Jr. -** His driving layup with 42 seconds to play gave KU the lead that it never relinquished. And it was the crown jewel of a solid final few minutes for McCullar, who didn’t do much in the 35 minutes leading up to the finish. He finished with 8 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals and most players would take numbers like that on any night. But for much of this game, he just wasn’t quite his usual disruptive self. Again, credit OU for a lot of that. The Sooners made this a really tough game and took the fight right to Kansas all night. McCullar was absolutely gassed in the final few minutes, but he still found a way to come up with some clutch plays, a couple of steals and the and-one basket, that put Kansas ahead for good. That’s the experience coming into play. And it underscores what McCullar came to KU to do — win and nothing else.
**5 – Gradey Dick -** The defensive boards late were huge — like really, really big — and they helped save a night that was otherwise pretty off for the KU freshman. Credit OU for most of that. The Sooners’ game plan on defending Dick was terrific, with the bench constantly yelling “stay connected” to the player guarding him and the five on the floor refusing to give up anything to him in the way of transition 3-pointers. One of the biggest signs of Dick’s impact was the team-high 36 minutes he played. Had he been awful, there’s no way Self would have left him out there that long. But he defended, scrapped and at least provided Kansas with a player that OU had to worry about, therein opening up things for the four other Jayhawks on the floor. This is how things are going to go for Dick the rest of the way. Teams in the Big 12 aren’t going to let him get comfortable or find much room to breathe. So Kansas will have to get creative in how it finds ways to get him going. More important than any of that, though, is that Dick stays in the game elsewhere when his offense isn’t quite clicking. He’s smart enough to understand that and unselfish enough to deliver.
**6 – Zach Clemence -** Clemence hit his first two 3-pointers of the season — after starting 0-for-9 — and also made his second and third shots of the season, after opening the year 1-for-13 in limited minutes. That was all great and very important to KU’s chances of winning, but Clemence still looked a little lost on defense, even if he did compete hard by fighting for loose balls and trying to be big on the glass. Regardless of the particulars and whether it was perfect or not, Clemence needed this game. And you saw a little of that confidence he had at times last year return to his face and body language. Now it’s a matter of stringing together more efforts like this one to build consistency and earn more trust and playing time from Self.
**7 – Bobby Pettiford -** Pettiford misfired on all three shots he attempted (including one from 3-point range) and one of the two free throws he shot, joining his teammates in struggling to shoot the ball. But he did play 16 minutes, was out there in the game’s final seconds and continued to solidify his role as an important piece of KU’s bench. For a guy known for finishing at the rim, Pettiford’s two missed layups were problematic. But, again, on a night when the rest of the Kansas team missed 19 layups, it really didn’t stick out like a sore thumb. He missed a wide-open 3-pointer off of a sweet feed from Harris that would have been huge had it fallen, both for the points it put on the board and on the highlight reel.
**8 – Joe Yesufu -** Yesufu wasn’t out there much in this one, as three of KU’s four starters not named Adams played 35 minutes or more. The reserve guard hit one of two shot attempts — a bucket and percentage that looks pretty important given the final outcome — and did not record any others statistics in 5 minutes on the floor. It does not look like the hamstring tweak that forced him to miss a game recently is causing him any problems. This was just a game script/flow situation.
**9 – Zuby Ejiofor -** Played just one minute and wasn’t really needed thanks to the minutes Clemence gave KU in the first half. Self said after the victory that he had no idea which one of the two he was going to put in when he took Adams out for the first time in the first half but went with Clemence because of his good game(s) against OU last year and because he had had a couple of good days of practice. It certainly paid off and Ejiofor will wipe the slate clean and see what’s needed of him next game.
Season standings
———–
1 – Jalen Wilson, 136
2 – Dajuan Harris Jr., 123
3 – KJ Adams, 119
4 – Gradey Dick, 110
5 – Kevin McCullar Jr., 101o
6 – Bobby Pettiford, 74
7 – Joe Yesufu, 60
T8 – MJ Rice, 45y
T8 – Zuby Ejiofor, 45
10 – Ernest Udeh Jr., 39
11 – Zach Clemence, 25z
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 missed 2 games with back spasms at the start of Big 12 play*
*z – Missed Duke, Southern Utah and NC State games because of injury*
*o – Missed Nov. 29 game vs. Texas Southern with a groin injury*
*q – Missed first nine games of the season with shoulder injury*
[1]: https://www2.kusports.com/news/2023/jan/11/detailed-look-frantic-final-5-minutes-and-how-no-2/
[2]: https://www2.kusports.com/news/2023/jan/10/bummer-sooners-furious-rally-late-helps-no-2-kansa/
