The Bahamas national team had just one of its NBA stars available Saturday night, and only for half the game at that, but still managed to give Kansas one of its biggest exhibition tests in recent history.
Seven-year NBA veteran Buddy Hield lit up the Jayhawks for 18 points in just 16 first-half minutes — a familiar sight for KU fans who once watched him score 46 points in Allen Fieldhouse back in 2016 — before sitting out the second frame. Then, with Hield color-commentating on the KU radio broadcast, the remainder of the Bahamian squad of current and former college players put up a furious second-half effort, drawing a seemingly endless string of fouls and narrowing KU’s lead, once 14, to a two-point margin twice in the fourth quarter. That was thanks to a 15-point quarter from Florida Gulf Coast’s Franco Miller Jr.
But the Jayhawks got a glimpse of what Hunter Dickinson can be. After struggling in his first exhibition showing, the transfer center tallied 28 points to lead all scorers on 11-for-13 shooting, including a string of tightly contested buckets in the post when the Bahamas had all the momentum. He helped KU earn a hard-fought 92-87 victory in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
“He’s a guy that you can throw it down there and it’s going to be a bucket,” forward Kevin McCullar Jr. said on the postgame broadcast. “If they want to come double, then we just got to be able to knock our shots down.”
The passing rapport between Dickinson and forward KJ Adams Jr., who finished with 17 points, was on full display as the pair fed each other one incisive pass after another.
“That’s what happens when you got two unselfish players who aren’t looking to score, they’re looking to make the right play,” Dickinson said.
Their much-improved post performance was especially critical because KU couldn’t get anything going from beyond the arc, shooting just 24% only two days after going 13-for-31 (42%) against the Puerto Rico Select team. Thankfully for the Jayhawks, the Bahamas team was even worse from deep at 7-for-32. Outside of Miller, who finished with 24 points, and Hield, the team went 1-for-16.
KU had a somewhat better-rounded offensive attack, with 13 points coming from McCullar and 12 from freshman Elmarko Jackson before they each fouled out.
“It was kind of a good thing that Kevin fouled out,” Dickinson said, “because it gave all the young guys a good opportunity … where (the opponent is) trying to press and get back in the game and we don’t have one of our veteran leaders in there with that calming presence.”
Arterio Morris got the start at shooting guard Saturday but posted just 7 points on 3-for-8 shooting.
“He’s unbelievable to me that he can be so aggressive and so impressive sometimes, and other times he just defers and doesn’t even put himself in the game offensively,” KU coach Bill Self said.
Self said he thought Morris and Jackson were “really talented, but not very sound and certainly not defensively,” and transfer Nick Timberlake, another contender to start at shooting guard, “was just OK.”
The Jayhawks were hampered by a lengthy string of third-quarter fouls, and they ultimately fouled the Bahamas 19 times in the second half alone.
After an Adams floater and Morris free throw gave KU its biggest lead at 14 points in the third quarter, the Bahamas embarked on a 14-4 run that included nine free throws. AJ Storr, the current Wisconsin guard who had the second-highest point total for the Bahamas at 19, went 9-for-10 on free throws on the night as the team made it 26-for-36 from the line overall.
The Bahamas cut the lead all the way down to 78-76 thanks to a Jaraun Burrows dunk and a pair of Storr free throws, then again at 80-78 on an acrobatic layup by Miller, before Dickinson landed a jump hook and sank a layup in the post through the foul for back-to-back baskets at a key moment.
The back-and-forth flow of the fourth quarter was a stark contrast from the Jayhawks’ lightning-fast pace in the second and third frames, as they repeatedly got out in transition before the Bahamas could react.
“We start the second half running our floor game as fast as we possibly can … but we just don’t have enough possessions of that,” Self said. “But we did execute pretty well in the halfcourt down the stretch, which was great.”
The Bahamas had led 9-3 early on a spinning fadeaway by Hield over impeccable defense from McCullar, and still 22-20 at the end of the first, but Jackson made three quick buckets early in the second as part of a 10-2 run. As anxious as it got, KU never again trailed.
The Jayhawks have one more exhibition matchup against the Bahamas on Monday, and NBA standouts Deandre Ayton, Eric Gordon and possibly Kai Jones are expected to play alongside Hield. As of now, though, KU has still won 35 straight exhibition matchups.
BOX SCORE:
Kansas 20 22 25 25 – 92
The Bahamas 22 14 25 26 – 87
Kansas (92): Dickinson 11-13, 5-8, 28; Adams 7-9, 2-3, 17; McCullar 4-6, 4-8, 13; Jackson 6-10, 0-2, 12; Morris 3-8, 1-3, 7; Timberlake 2-7, 0-0, 5; McDowell 1-1, 2-2, 4; Braun 1-1, 0-0, 2; Clemence 1-1, 0-0, 2; Harris 1-8, 0-1, 2. Totals: 37-64, 14-27, 92.
The Bahamas (87): Miller 8-14, 5-8, 24; Storr 5-12, 9-10, 19; Hield 5-11, 5-5, 18; Burrows 5-7, 1-1, 11; Munnings 1-7, 3-4, 5; Bridgewater 1-2, 1-2, 3; Nairn 1-3, 0-0; 2. Totals: 27-65, 26-36, 87.
3FGs: Kansas 4-17 (Adams 1, Dickinson 1, Jackson 1, McCullar 1); The Bahamas (Neal 3, Mosley 2, Porter 1). TOs: Kansas 22; The Bahamas 23. Fouled out: Jackson, McCullar; Burrows, Mackey.
Hunter Dickinson goes up for a shot during the game between Kansas and the Bahamas in Puerto Rico on Aug. 5, 2023.
Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics
Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics