Game day Breakdown: No. 5 KU basketball vs. Texas A&M

By Matt Tait     Jan 27, 2018

Nick Krug
Kansas sophomore guard Malik Newman fires a shot during pre-game warmups prior to Saturday's game against Baylor at Allen Fieldhouse.

No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks (16-4 overall, 6-2 Big 12) vs. Texas A&M Aggies (13-7 overall, 2-6 SEC)

Time: 3:30 p.m. | Location: Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kansas

TV: ESPN | Radio: IMG Jayhawk Radio Network

Log on to KUsports.com for our live game blog coverage and follow the KUsports.com staff on Twitter: @KUSports @mctait @TomKeeganLJW @bentonasmith @nightengalejr @chasenscott & @nickkrug

Keys for Kansas

1. Ball movement a must

The fact that the Aggies are big makes this the perfect game for KU to bring its unselfish nature to the forefront to force the Aggies to defend all over the floor and find open players for jumpers whenever possible.

The fact that the Aggies are one of the more gifted defensive teams on KU’s schedule makes that concept imperative.

Texas A&M enters this one with the country’s seventh-ranked team in defensive efficiency, ranking in the Top 30 nationally in effective field goal defense, 3-point defense, 2-point defense and block percentage.

A&M is holding opponents in the 30s in both field goal percentage (.390) and 3-point percentage (.304), both numbers that sit well below KU’s season averages of .499 and .405.

So this one figures to be a battle of wills, with KU’s offensive strengths looking to crack A&M’s defensive prowess.

2. Protect the paint

Recent free throw shooting woes aside, this could be a crucial game for KU sophomore Udoka Azubuike, who no doubt will find himself back at the line a time or two but also will be asked to control the A&M offense in the paint.

And that task will be bigger against the Aggies than just about any team the Jayhawks have played or will play this season.

Not known as a 3-point shooting team — the Aggies are shooting just .325 from 3-point range on 115 fewer 3-point attempts than the Jayhawks to date — A&M is happy to work in the half-court to get the ball inside, where the majority of their shot attempts have come.

So far this season, 56.8 percent of A&M’s points have come off of 2-point shots and that number has grown to 59.8 percent during SEC play. Beyond that, the Aggies average just 6.7 3-point makes per game compared to 10.6 for the Jayhawks.

Kansas is comfortable playing on the perimeter, getting up and down and guarding 3-point shots. But the Jayhawks will need to play sound team defense and defend the drive better than they have most of the season to keep this from being a layup clinic for the Aggies.

3. No letting up

While the A&M game is viewed on the schedule as a break from the grind of Big 12 play, the Jayhawks cannot — and likely won’t — look at this game in that manner.

With a Big Monday game at Kansas State looming two days later and two home games immediately thereafter, the Jayhawks are about to enter a crucial stretch in their quest for a 14th consecutive Big 12 title.

Tapping the brakes and cruising through this non-conference game — win or lose — might make it tough for the Jayhawks to turn things back up. So it’s critical that they treat the A&M game like they would a regular conference game. And, from the sound of it, that’s exactly what they plan to do.

“We’ll play the game to win just like everybody in this challenge is going to play the game to win,” Self said. “We’ll play it just like we would if we were playing Oklahoma or K-State. And they’ll do the same thing. The thing about it is, at the end of the day, you don’t want, regardless of what happens in this particular game, to impact what happens after that, whether it be win a big game, you kind of get careless or complacent, or if you lose it, now does that affect the next one? You don’t do that because this game is important but it’s not as important as the league race. And I’m sure there’s 19 other coaches that are playing in the challenge that would tell you the exact same thing.”

Mega Matchup

Texas A&M’s size vs. KU’s speed

Asked about the matchup with the Aggies and their big front line, KU senior Svi Mykhailiuk had a simple stance about KU’s chances.

“Speed beats size any time, at the end of the day,” he said.

So look for the Jayhawks to play fast, try to run often and hit the glass with intensity, not only to neutralize A&M’s rebounding advantage but also to spark quick transition opportunities.

A&M enters this one having outrebounded its opponents by nearly eight a game — 848-694 for the season. Add that to the fact that Kansas has been out-rebounded in nine consecutive games dating back to the Stanford game in Sacramento and it’s easy to see that the Jayhawks’ most likely path to victory is to utilize their guards and make the bigger A&M bodies chase them all over the floor.

Jayhawk Pulse

Just when the Big 12 race was starting to heat up, the conference is forced to take a weekend off.

Welcome to the fifth year of the Big 12/SEC Challenge, a 20-team, one-day showdown between two of college basketball’s power conferences of which KU coach Bill Self is not the biggest fan.

“I wish it was earlier,” Self said this week. “I think it’s great for our league because I think it’s one day where it’s all exposure, two good leagues going against each other, all that stuff. I also think it gives everybody a chance to improve their NCAA chances (by putting) another quality win in the bag, or improve your seed line because obviously a big win could certainly impact that. But other than that, I don’t think it carries near as much weight as what a conference game would.”

The Jayhawks are 3-1 all-time in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, with a pair of wins over Kentucky in the past two seasons and a split with Florida during the first two years of the showcase.

In addition to being a battle of two power leagues, today’s game also is a reunion of sorts for the Jayhawks and Aggies, who spent years battling one another in the Big 12.

Kansas leads the all-time series with A&M, 20-1, including an 8-1 mark in Allen Fieldhouse. The last time these two teams met came in 2012, when the Jayhawks won 83-66 in the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Mo., to complete a three-game sweep of the Aggies during their final season in the Big 12 Conference.

A&M’s lone victory in the series came in 2007, in Lawrence, when Acie Law IV hit a game-winning shot late to knock off the Jayhawks in front of a national television audience.

This year’s Aggies, who opened the season ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll, raced out to a 7-0 start and climbed as high as No. 7 in the poll. That start included an 88-65 drubbing of West Virginia in the season opener. But A&M has lost seven of 13 games since then and is trying to piece itself back together after injuries and suspensions plagued them in December and January.

Probable Starters

No. 5 Kansas

G – Devonte’ Graham, 6-2, 185, Sr.

G – Malik Newman, 6-3, 190, Soph.

G – Svi Mykhailiuk, 6-8, 205, Sr.

G – Lagerald Vick, 6-5, 175, Jr.

C – Udoka Azubuike, 7-0, 280, Soph.

Texas A&M

G – Duane Wilson, 6-3, 175, Sr.

G – Admon Gilder, 6-4, 199, Jr.

F – Robert Williams, 6-10, 241, Soph.

F – D.J. Hogg, 6-9, 215, Jr.

C – Tyler Davis, 6-10, 266, Jr.

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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.