What this means…from Vegas
Gary Bedore, Journal-World KU men’s basketball beat writer
“Kansas definitely made up for its loss to Oral Roberts by upending the defending national champs.
It showed again how unpredictable Novermber basketball is. One thing is for sure – if the Jayhawks played that hard against Oral Roberts, they’d be 6-0 right now.
Julian Wright looked like the best player in college basketball in the first half, and Darrell Arthur its best freshman in second half and overtime.
Chalk it up as a great win, and for the fans ready to jump off the ledge, they should be happy about this win, too.”
Tom Keegan, Journal-World sports editor
“Joakim Noah and Al Horford deserve all the hype they get, and they have the hardware to prove that, but on a Saturday night in Las Vegas, they were outplayed by a pair of personality polar opposites – the effusive Julian Wright and the stoic Darrell Arthur.
See, good things happen when you get the ball to the big fellas.”
Inside the numbers
9: That’s how many fouls Florida’s junior forward tandem of Joakim Noah and Al Horford combined for. Both sides had some foul trouble, but Florida’s came earlier, allowing KU to do as it pleased offensively for most of the first half.
6: That’s how many bench points the two teams combined to score, with Darnell Jackon scoring four for Kansas and Chris Richard tallying two for Florida. Nine of the game’s 10 starters scored in double figures, with the odd man out being Horford, who scored nine.
53.6: That was KU’s field goal percentage, compared to a spotty 40 percent in Friday’s ugly 64-46 win over Ball State. It’s amazing what 24 hours can do.
66.6: That was the Jayhawks’ free throw percentage (18-of-27). Free throw woes wound up not costing KU the game this time, but late game consistency from the stripe still needs to be found before the postseason arrives.
Just in case you missed it…
Bill Self said earlier this season that Brandon Rush is his best on-the-ball defender, and he showed his ability to make big plays on the defensive side of the ball at crucial times Saturday. On top of his ho-hum 13 points, Rush had five defensive boards and a team-high three blocked shots.
Hopefully you didn’t miss it…
Julian Wright showed exactly why people call him a talent from another world. Everyone knows about his height, length, athleticism, savvy and unselfishness. Saturday, he also showed his ability to be an entertainer, which will make him some franchise’s prized piece at the next level. He threw down several emphatic dunks which kept his team on a constant emotional high, and also enthused a Jayhawk-filled crowd at Orleans Arena.
