Nick KrugNo. 8 Kansas Jayhawks (9-1) vs. No. 14 Indiana Hoosiers (8-2)
Time: 11 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022
Location: Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kansas
TV: ESPN2 | Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network via Learfield
1. What happens at the point?
Kansas fans are already well aware of how important Dajuan Harris Jr., is to the Jayhawks’ lineup.
Not only is he one of the best defenders in the country, but his assist-to-turnover ratio leads the Big 12, his basketball mind and IQ is as good as Bill Self has ever coached and Harris brings a certain amount of calm and composure to the floor whenever he’s out there.
Although they come in different packages, Indiana has one of those types of players, as well, in ultra-talented freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, a former five-star prospect ranked No. 18 in the 2022 class by Rivals.com.
“He’s one of the best freshmen in the country,” Self said of the Hoosiers’ 6-foot-6, 213-pound point guard on Thursday. “He can score, he can handle. He’s strong, confident, plays with a swagger. They’ll be fine without him, but they’ll obviously be better with him.”
Therein lies the biggest question about the whole thing: Will Hood-Schifino play against Kansas?
He’s been out for the past couple of weeks with a lower back issue, and he practiced for the first time on Thursday. How that went and how he felt on Friday will play a huge role in if and how much he can play on Saturday.
If he’s out there, Harris will have his hands full. In seven starts so far this season, Hood-Schifino is averaging 8.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. His individual defensive rebounding rate is tops on the team and among the best in the country, and he also brings a different scoring punch to the Hoosiers’ roster that they don’t quite have without him.
Given his size and ability to go, his presence would put a lot of pressure on the KU backcourt and present a significant challenge for Harris, who has shown a tendency to get into foul trouble at times this season.
Another big guard, 6-3, 200-pound senior Xavier Johnson (10.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game) will almost certainly start at the point and play a big role whether Hood-Schifino plays or doesn’t play.
But if the talented freshman is out there, the Hoosiers become that much more dangerous and Harris’ job becomes that much more difficult.
2. Be the better version of you
When looking ahead to the matchup with Indiana, Kansas coach Bill Self said Thursday that the two teams “kind of mirror each other a little bit in ways on how we attempt to play.”
That, of course, starts with defense, but it also includes elements of the way they both attack on offense.
Indiana likes to run and looks to score quickly, but is comfortably playing grind-it-out type games, as well.
The Hoosiers average more points per game than Kansas (81.4 to 79.4) and also are giving up fewer points per game to their opponents (63.8 to 65.6). But both teams try to play in a way that puts as much pressure as possible on the opponent at both ends of the floor.
Offensively, that means ball movement and balance and playing through All-American candidate Trayce Jackson-Davis. But the Hoosiers, like Kansas, have multiple players who can score and hurt teams if defenses pay too much attention to their big man down low.
Most notable among them is senior Miller Kopp, who is shooting 49% from 3-point range for the season (23 of 47) and has led the Hoosiers in scoring (16 points per game) in each of their three outings.
While the styles and philosophies and even some of the positional size matchups are similar, one area where Indiana differs greatly from what KU brings to the floor is experience.
The Hoosiers’ roster features 2.74 years of Division I experience per player, which ranks 39th nationally and is nearly a full year higher than the national average of 1.90.
Kansas, meanwhile, ranks 244th nationally in that category at 1.60 years of Division I experience per player.
3. How to check Trayce Jackson-Davis
Self’s familiarity with Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana’s All-American candidate, goes well beyond what he’s seen on game film.
Self actually coached Jackson-Davis with USA Basketball a few years back. Although Jackson-Davis was a young role player on that team, Self saw enough from him to know how talented he is. And he made it clear when he compared his athleticism to that of former Jayhawk Andrew Wiggins.
“He’s so quick off his feet,” Self said of Jackson-Davis. “We don’t play anybody that has a second jump as quick as Trayce. Trayce misses layups and then dunks the follows. He’s so quick off his feet, so if he’s doing that offensively, he’s capable of doing that defensively, too.”
The IU big man enters Saturday’s game averaging 16.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and just over two blocks per game. Beyond that, he’s shooting 65% from the floor and often gains an advantage because he’s left-handed.
“Our guys have not guarded anybody like him. It’s going to be a tough matchup for us,” Self said. “We are going to have to help and do some things to try to eliminate his good touches and everything. But he’s a great player, so he’s going to score. There’s no doubt about that. We just can’t let it be a (big) number.”
Kansas junior Jalen Wilson is also familiar with Jackson-Davis, dating back to their high school days. Wilson said the version of the Indiana big man he sees today is a lot like the one he remembered from those days.
“He’s really been just a beast,” Wilson said. “He’s been bigger than a lot of people. He still is. He is still able to use his dominant hand in the paint (to) move guys around. So, we are going to have to really change things up to contain a guy like that. He’s a guy that can win a game.”
KU’s halfcourt offense vs. Indiana’s defense
The last time Kansas played a team with elite size inside, they fell to Tennessee in the finals of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
Indiana is not the same team as Tennessee — the Vols were overally more athletic and longer — and the Jayhawks are not quite the same team they were that day when they suffered their only loss of the season to date either.
If anything, Kansas learned a lot from that game in terms of how to attack inside. It all starts with ball movement and team basketball and is rooted in making smart decisions.
Jackson-Davis is a legit shot blocker, and Self said KU would love to “move him around” and get him away from the basket a little bit.
That only happens if KU plays a disciplined brand of team basketball on offense instead watching a bunch of players try to beat their man one-on-one as individuals.
Kansas also will need to get paint touches from its guards — which is always the goal — and finish the shots they do get around the basket.
“Their style is very sound,” Self said of the Hoosiers. “They guard and they don’t give up easy baskets. They make you score over the top of them. I don’t know that they’re huge, but they are big compared to us. Trayce Jackson-Davis is 6-foot-9 and they’ll start 6-foot-9 next to him, so that’s certainly a size advantage for them.”
Saturday’s game marks a battle of two of the biggest names in the history of college basketball, and the Jayhawks and Hoosiers will be meeting for the 15th time.
“Indiana’s a blue blood, and certainly we are,” Self said Thursday. “It’ll be fun to get them back in the Fieldhouse.”
Indiana leads the all-time series with Kansas, 8-6, and the Hoosiers won the last meeting between the two programs, 103-99 in overtime in the opening game of the 2016-17 season in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Back in the mid-1990s, these two schools played one of the most memorable games in Allen Fieldhouse history and it was won by Kansas on a 3-point buzzer beater by then-freshman Jacque Vaughn.
The Hoosiers, coached by second-year head coach and IU alum Mike Woodson, who played for legendary Indiana coach Bob Knight, enter the contest having lost two of their last three games after opening the season with seven consecutive victories.
Kansas, meanwhile, has won three in a row since falling to No. 6 Tennessee, with the average margin of victory in those three games being 28.7 points per victory.
Per Draft Kings, Kansas opened as a 6-point favorite over Indiana. KenPom.com has the spread at 73-68 in favor of the Jayhawks, who have a win probability of 69%.
No. 8 Kansas
G – Dajuan Harris Jr., 6-1, 175, Jr.
G – Kevin McCullar Jr., 6-6, 210, Sr.
G – Gradey Dick, 6-8, 205, Fr.
F – Jalen Wilson, 6-8, 225, Soph.
F – KJ Adams, 6-7, 225, Soph.
No. 14 Indiana Hoosiers
G – Xavier Johnson, 6-3, 200, Sr.
G – Trey Galloway, 6-4, 203, Jr.
G – Miller Kopp, 6-7, 215, Sr.
F – Race Thompson, 6-8, 235, Sr.
F – Trayce Jackson-Davis, 6-9, 245, Sr.
