Graham’s touch sparks Jayhawks

By Gary Bedore     Dec 30, 2015

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Devonte' Graham (4) puts up a three over UC Irvine guard Luke Nelson (10) during the first half, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas University sophomore guard Devonté Graham went 3-of-5 from three-point land, his teammates 0-for-5 in the first half of Tuesday’s 78-53 victory over UC Irvine in Allen Fieldhouse.

“Fortunately for us, Devonté made three shots or we would have been behind at halftime,” KU coach Bill Self said of the 6-foot-2 Raleigh, North Carolina, native scoring nine points as KU took a narrow 28-26 lead into the break.

One of Graham’s threes erased a 17-15 deficit, another cut a 26-22 deficit to one point.

“We were struggling knocking down shots the whole game. Luckily a couple fell for me,” Graham said. The Jayhawks hit five of 17 threes to UC Irvine’s two of 15.

“Guys were telling me to keep shooting. I was able to knock some down,” Graham added.

Graham didn’t score the second half while taking two shots, but did dish three assists compared to none the first 20 minutes.

“I told Devonté at the start of the second half, ‘You have not impacted the game, (not impacted) your teammates at all. You have no assists,'” Self said. “We didn’t attack their zone well at all. We were getting under 10 seconds on the shot clock. We’re not used to that. He was much better the second half. He didn’t score but he was better,” Self added.

For the game, Graham had nine points, three assists and no turnovers in 30 minutes, while Frank Mason III had 13 points, six assists, two turnovers in 31 minutes. For the year, Graham has 41 assists, nine turnovers; Mason 68 assists, 16 turnovers.

“I think Frank has done an unbelievable job of taking care of the ball. Devonté has done a great job taking care of the ball. I think both their assist numbers are way too low,” Self said.

“We back out of plays where we could attack a gap and get somebody open. I’d be OK with their turnovers going up because we need them in there trying to make more plays for others. Those two getting nine assists combined, that’s fine. That should be 13, 14 every game in my opinion, even if they have four turnovers as opposed to two.

“I feel we’re better than we’ve shown with those numbers. Everybody talks assist-to-turnover ratio. You play safe so you don’t turn it over. Those guys need to be more aggressive. I think Wayne passed the ball well tonight,” Self added of Wayne Selden Jr., who had five assists against two turnovers with eight points in 26 minutes.

Graham said inefficient guard play was one reason senior forward Perry Ellis scored only one point the first half Tuesday. Ellis had 13 the second half.

“It was kind of on us. We weren’t getting it to the middle and giving him a chance to be aggressive,” Graham said.

As far as KU’s guard play during an 11-1 start to the season, Graham said he felt comfortable playing alongside Petersburg, Virginia, junior Mason.

“It’s being around each other, playing with each other in practice,” Graham said. “Last year we were competing against each other so hard for the 1 position (lead guard). This year, playing aside each other, our relationship has grown. It’s making the team better.”

Efficient board work: KU outrebounded UC Irvine, a team with 7-foot-6 Mamadou Ndiaye, 6-10 Mike Best, 7-2 Ioannis Dimakopoulos and 6-10 Jonathan Galloway, 35 to 28.

“It means we did our job because coming in the game they were only plus-1 on defensive boards. We knew they weren’t overly aggressive,” Graham said. “We stayed on the boards. Perry had five offensive rebounds the first half (nine total boards for game). He was doing his job. Bigs were working and guards were trying to help him,” Graham added.

Noted Self: “They are not a great rebounding team statistically. I thought we did a pretty good job on the glass. Perry had a great first half on the offensive glass and Wayne, he hasn’t rebounded the ball great offensively. I thought he was really good rebounding the ball.”

Selden had seven rebounds.

“Fortunately our defense was good (UC Irvine hit 37.5 percent of its shots). We rebounded above average and bought some time until we got in a little bit of rhythm offensively,” said Self, whose Jayhawks hit 56 percent of their second-half shots and outscored the Anteaters, 50-27, the final half.

Next: KU will next meet Baylor at 3 p.m., Saturday, in Allen. The Bears are 10-2 on the season.

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