Kansas men’s basketball’s frontcourt mismatch powered an 86-51 win over Furman at Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday.
The game plan from the start was to attack the paint. Of the Jayhawks’ first 25 points, 22 came in the paint. Forwards KJ Adams and Hunter Dickinson were the two main options. Early and often, the ball went to one of those two post players and ended with a basket for Kansas.
By the end of the game, Adams led the team with 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting. Dickinson and Rylan Griffen each finished with 10 points with five baskets on eight attempts. The Jayhawks finished with 62 points in the paint and 42 rebounds to Furman’s 26.
KU gave up a lead to Furman at 16-14, but the Jayhawks finished the final 12 minutes of the first half with a 25-12 advantage. The advantage in the paint continued as they ended the first half with 32 points on the paint.
Early in the first half, the Jayhawks hadn’t been able to pull away as the Paladins hit some 3-point shots, but their 3-point shooting eventually slowed down. Furman finished the half 6-for-23 from distance and only made one of the last 12 shots from the field before halftime.
“They missed a lot of 3s, I think in the second half we started guarding them better,” point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. said. “We had to have better closeouts, and have better pressure. I think we did pretty good.”
At the halfway point, Adams led with 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting. He was the only Jayhawk with double-digit points at the time. He also had five rebounds at halftime, three of which were offensive.
KU’s approach stayed the same in the second half as Kansas pushed its lead with its frontcourt. Adams continued to hit shots while pushing the lead to 21 points with over 13 minutes left.
The Jayhawks finished with a forgettable night shooting from distance, with only three made shots on 14 attempts, but the dominance in the paint made it irrelevant. Zeke Mayo hit the first 3-pointer for Kansas early in the second half.
“We just didn’t make shots. We have to get to where we’re shooting 35, 38% from 3,” KU coach Bill Self said. “I think we will. We haven’t hit shots all year long yet, but that was a pretty efficient game tonight.”
On the other end, Kansas held Furman to under 30% from the field and 9-of-38 on 3-pointers. Along with 11 turnovers and almost doubling up Furman on rebounds, the Jayhawks had a successful defensive night. Self said that the team didn’t allow any back cuts, which was an area of focus before the contest.
“That was the emphasis… to defend 3s and defend backdoors,” Self said. “I actually thought that we were trying to help too much when they got inside the arc. I didn’t think in the second half we helped as much, I thought we bluffed and stayed with our man better.”
In the final minutes of the game, Kansas pushed its lead to over 30 points while holding Furman to only seven baskets in the second half and 3-for-15 from distance in the period. Kansas kept adding to its lead with its guards driving to the rim and a final basket from Dickinson in the paint.
Kansas will next compete in the Big 12-Big East Battle with a road game against Creighton on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Nick Krug
