You don’t need to look at box scores to realize junior Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is playing the best basketball of his Kansas career.
Svi is moving better, driving more aggressively, shooting more accurately and playing with more confidence than at any point in his career, which stands to reason since he’s more experienced and playing more minutes.
Heading into the Nov. 29 game in Allen Fieldhouse vs. Long Beach State, Mykhailiuk had produced back-to-back double-figure scoring totals just once in his career, last season in the Maui Classic when he followed an 18-point night vs. Div. II Chaminade with 13 points against UCLA.
Starting with the Long Beach State game, Svi has an active streak of four consecutive double-digit point totals.
He’s averaging 10 points per game and shooting .431 from three, an improvement from a strong .402 as a sophomore and .288 as a freshman.
Now the only remaining question centers on how much of that improvement he will carry with him once Kansas hits conference play and the competition stiffens.
I crunched some numbers and found that Svi has appeared in 34 games vs. teams ranked in the top 25, 37 vs. unranked foes.
As suspected, there is a huge disparity in his numbers based on the quality of the competition.
Mykhailiuk has shot .329 overall and .256 from three vs. ranked teams, .432 overall and .414 from three vs. all other opponents.
His career double-digit scoring games came against, in chronological order: Rider, Michigan State, Lafayette, Chaminade, UCLA, Loyola of Maryland, Montana, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Austin Peay, Indiana, UAB, Long Beach State, Stanford, UMKC and Nebraska.
Now that his minutes and confidence have increased, he should be able to close that gap, but it remains an issue until he proves otherwise.
**Two Jayhawks in top 10**
Ken Pomeroy ranks everything based on a combination of statistics. Teams, players, you name it, he ranks it at kenpom.com.
Interestingly, two of the top 10 players ranked on what Pomeroy calls, “kPOY Rating,” his player of the year formula, play for Kansas.
Frank Mason checks in at No. 5, Josh Jackson at No. 9.
Duke, with three players in the top 10, is the one other school with more than one: 3 — Amile Jefferson, 4 — Luke Kennard, 10 — Grayson Allen.
Villanova’s Josh Hart tops the list. Saint Mary’s center Jock Landale of Australia ranks second.
**Sagarin high on Big 12 basketball**
I’m not a huge fan of computer rankings, particularly the RPI the NCAA likes because it weighs far too heavily strength of schedule, which results in more attractive TV matchups and in turn higher ratings and more advertising dollars. That’s why the NCAA loves the RPI. I prefer Sagarin, particularly the predictor column.
Sagarin predictor ranks a Big 12 team first in the nation, but it’s neither AP No. 3 Kansas nor No. 4 Baylor. It’s West Virginia. KU is No. 3 in Sagarin, Baylor No. 11, Iowa State No. 20.
Tough conference.
**Online chat**
I’m answering questions during an online chat scheduled for 1 p.m. today, but you don’t have to wait until then to [submit questions][1] you might have about David Beaty’s contract extension, KU’s strong start to the basketball season, the performance of the NCAA volleyball tournament selection committee, where Neil Young ranks among rock-and-roll’s all-time greats, or anything else on your mind.
[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/chats/2016/dec/13/tom-keegan/
