What this means…from press row
Tom Keegan, Journal-World sports editor
“Style never has been the issue with this team. How could it be wihen Julian Wright whips no-look passes, Brandon Rush skies for rebounds and Sherron Collins flies with the ball in his hands?
Substance will determine how close Kansas comes to fulfilling its considerable potential. Too often, the Jayhawks have fallen short on that front.
Against a decent USC team, KU’s style wasn’t on display. Their best offense was a missed shot. They were all about substance. They hustled, defended relentlessly and hammered the offensive boards. If they can maintain this sort of substance once their style returns, it could be an exciting year.”
Ryan Greene, KUSports.com editor
“A key for KU in Monday’s win was doing so for the most part without Darrell Arthur on the floor.
The lengthy freshman sensation played just three scoreless first half minutes, and finished with eight points, three rebounds, two steals and a block in 15 minutes of play while battling foul trouble – including a fourth foul which came on an apparent make-up call.
Sasha Kaun wasn’t great, but he didn’t kill his team while playing 17 minutes out of necessity. Learning to win without Arthur, who has been KU’s most consistent piece so far in the paint this season, is huge.”
Inside the numbers
20: That’s how many offensive boards the Jayhawks ripped down, which was a result of a spotty 24-of-63 shooting performance. That number is compared to just 22 defensive boards on the USC end.
8: That’s how many points USC’s leading scorer, junior Nick Young, had in the game. He was covered for the most part by Brandon Rush, and the two followed a similar substitution pattern throughout the night. After being rattled a bit by DePaul’s Sammy Mejia, Rush asked coach Bill Self for the Young assignment, and he came through.
5: That’s how many times KU expanded its lead to seven points on the night, answering every USC surge. The Jayhawks didn’t make a lot of shots, but in the words of Bill Self after the game, they made enough.
Just in case you missed it…
KU’s team defense was phenomenal, forcing 25 Trojan turnovers. Of the giveaways, 11 of them can be credited to USC freshman big man Taj Gibson, putting a lone blemish on a solid game. Six Jayhawks recorded a steal, including six from Mario Chalmers. KU’s shooting won’t always be as poor as it was Monday night, but if their defense is consistently that strong, it won’t be too much of an issue.
Hopefully you didn’t miss it…
Brandon Rush’s stellar defensive performance while covering Young. Young can score, but his poor handles were exposed by lightning-quick footwork from Rush. Plus, an added bonus from Rush, was an outpouring of emotion after a much-needed first half three. He pumped his fists and burst out yelling. It showed an awakening from the offensive doldrums he was trapped in Saturday.
They said it…
Brandon Rush on asking to guard Nick Young: “We went at it. Everytime he subbed in, I subbed in. Everytime I subbed in, he subbed in. I limited him to eight points on 12 shots, so I felt I did a pretty good job. I told the coaches I wanted to guard him so I could try to take him out of the game, instead of like DePaul. I let (Sammy) Mejia go off for 23. I didn’t want that to happen again.”
Rodrick Stewart on getting the win despite his brother, Lodrick, putting on an individual show: “It was good to see my brother have the good game, but I’m glad we did get the win, because I didn’t want him to come in here and win in the Fieldhouse – then he’d really have something to talk about.”
Bill Self on his team’s defense compensating for poor shooting: “I thought our defense was excellent. I thought we rebounded the ball well and ran good offense, too. We Just didn’t make any shots. Made just enough.”
