Notebook: Senior guard Marcus Garrett knocks down a trio of 3-pointers in win over Eagles

By Matt Tait     Mar 20, 2021

Associated Press
Kansas guard Marcus Garrett (0) goes up for a shot as Eastern Washington forward Tanner Groves (35) and teammate Jacob Davison (10) defend during the second half of a first-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament at Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, Saturday, March 20, 2021. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Indianapolis — With just under five minutes remaining in Saturday’s 93-84 win over No. 14 seed Eastern Washington, Kansas senior Marcus Garrett drained his third 3-pointer of the day and bounced up and down while shouting with joy as he got back on defense.

The emotion after the big shot was unusual coming from the normally stoic Garrett, who said after the game that he was feeling himself a little in that moment.

“The atmosphere had me feeling good,” Garrett said after the Jayhawks’ Round 1 victory. “I was open there, and I had to take those shots.”

Whether it was Eastern Washington’s strategy or just bad fortune, the Eagles’ decision to leave Garrett open on Saturday afternoon came back to bite them.

The third 3-pointer the KU senior hit was by far the most guarded he took. And it came just moments after a wide-open jumper at the top of the key put Kansas ahead 80-68 with five minutes remaining.

Garrett shot 8-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and he and often-open teammate Dajuan Harris sank six of nine shots from behind the arc in Saturday’s win.

“It was nice to see Marcus and ‘Juan shoot the ball like that, because we needed them to shoot the ball like that to win,” KU coach Bill Self said after the victory. Sometimes this year we’ve been playing three against five, so to speak, because people dare us to shoot (and) we don’t shoot it. It’s a good shot when their shoulders are square, and it was good that they took those.”

Garrett said he was more than happy to take them, despite going just 2-for-18 from 3-point range in nine games during February.

“It’s March,” he said. “I know it’s winning time, and I know I have to knock down shots, so I’m stepping up and having confidence and shooting the ball more.”

Garrett is now 6-for-12 from downtown in three games in March.

He played Saturday’s entire second half with three fouls, but he said he wasn’t worried when he picked up foul No. 3 late in the first half on a sloppy charging call near midcourt.

“I kind of know how to play without fouling and without gambling, without reaching, just putting myself in a good situation,” he said. “I couldn’t be as aggressive with the ball handler bringing the ball up the court, but overall it didn’t mess with me.”

“Of course he says that now that he didn’t foul the rest of the game,” Self joked. “I didn’t feel great about it, but I thought once we got to about the 13- or 14-minute mark of the second half, I felt better because I thought he could manage it the rest of the way.”

Garrett said he felt more comfortable about the situation when Harris, who played 35 minutes off the bench on Saturday, volunteered to guard Eastern Washington’s primary ball handlers.

“He told me he got it,” Garrett said with a grin.

Next up: USC

After getting past the Groves brothers on Saturday, the Jayhawks will face another set of brothers on Monday: USC big men Evan Mobley and Isaiah Mobley, who combined for 32 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks in Saturday’s Round 1 win over Drake.

Seeded sixth in the West region, the Trojans (23-7) won the Pac-12 regular season title with a 15-5 conference record, tying at the top with Oregon, which finished 14-4.

Evan Mobley, who is regarded by many as a likely top-three pick in the upcoming NBA draft, finished with 17 points, 11 boards and three blocks in Saturday’s 72-56 win over Drake.

The Trojans led by three at halftime and then wore the Bulldogs down throughout the second half.

Despite being seeded lower than the Jayhawks, USC is ranked ahead of Kansas in the KenPom.com rankings.

Andy Enfield’s team is ranked No. 9 by KenPom.com, 25th in offensive efficiency and 10th in defensive efficiency, largely on the strength of what the Mobley brothers can do at the rim.

Enfield is now in his eighth season at USC. He moved to Southern California after leading Florida Gulf Coast to the Sweet 16 in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Asked before the USC-Drake game tipped off whether he had a rooting interest, Garrett played the role of the diplomat, as usual.

“Kind of don’t have a preference,” he said. “I’ve watched film on both teams already. Whichever team wins, I feel like coach Self will have us ready for them.”

No contest

Saturday delivered the first COVID-19 elimination in this year’s NCAA Tournament: No. 7 seed Oregon advanced to the second round when No. 11 VCU was eliminated and the game was declared “a no-contest because of COVID-19 protocols,” according to the NCAA.

“This decision was made in consultation with the Marion County Public Health Department,” NCAA spokesman David Worlock said. “The NCAA and the committee regret that VCU’s student-athletes and coaching staff will not be able to play in a tournament in which they earned the right to participate. Because of privacy issues we cannot provide further details.”

Oregon and VCU were supposed to play Saturday night at Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

Odd environment

Saturday’s attendance inside the 6,500-seat arena on the Indiana State Fairgrounds property was listed at 961 people, a few hundred shy of the limit of 1,200 allowed by COVID-19 protocols.

Self was asked after the game how the environment compared to what he was used to. He has coached 69 games in the NCAA Tournament, and he acknowledged that this one felt strange.

“Nine hundred people coming to an NCAA tournament game,” Self said. “I don’t think the atmosphere played a role in who won or who didn’t win; it just felt different.”

As if the 9-0 hole his team dug to open the game was not chilling enough, Self said it was the “coldest arena I think I’ve ever been in” to open the game.

“I didn’t feel it that way at the end,” he said. “I thought it warmed up some. It was literally, 60, 58 degrees when the game started, it felt like.”

This and that …

With David McCormack coming back from COVID-19, KU senior Mitch Lightfoot made his first start of the season and the eighth of his career. His last start came in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament … Kansas has now won its first game in the NCAA Tournament for 14 consecutive seasons, dating back to 2007 … KU is now 9-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed, 5-1 against No. 14 seeds … The Jayhawks now lead the all-time series with Eastern Washington 2-0 and are 15-0 all-time against teams from the Big Sky Conference … The Jayhawks had five players reach double figures in scoring on Saturday, marking the seventh time this season that five or more Kansas players have scored 10 or more points in the same game. KU is 5-2 in those games … The Jayhawks are now 4-1 in neutral-site games this season … Self is now 49-20 as a head coach in the NCAA Tournament … Saturday’s win was the 2,323rd of all-time for Kansas, which pulls the Jayhawks one game closer to catching Kentucky (2,327) for the most wins in college basketball history.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.