**1 – Dajuan Harris Jr. -** This may not be a very popular pick. I know where most people stand in the Team Remy vs. Team Harris debate that may or may not be relevant. But as I watched this game, I continually found myself saying that Harris looked like one of the only guys in the home uniforms that did not look intimidated. Maybe he didn’t play great or lights out, but he wasn’t terrible either. He hit 3 of 6 from the floor, threw down a nasty transition dunk that delivered some momentum to the team and juice to the building when KU desperately needed it and fought his ass off defensively while being asked to chase around Sahvir Wheeler, occasionally in an all-or-nothing triangle-and-two situation. He added 4 assists and a steal to go along with 2 turnovers and was the farthest thing from KU’s problem on Saturday. On a night when you’re rocked in own gym the way KU was in this one, something as simple as that can earn you high marks.
**2 – Ochai Agbaji -** Shot 4-of-14 from the floor after starting 1-of-6 for the game, and just never really got going. Kentucky sent waves of bodies and hands and defenders at him and it definitely forced an off night from KU’s leading scorer and one of the country’s top players thus far. The good thing about Agbaji’s night — other than finding a way to score 13 points on just four makes — was the fact that he never surrendered. It very clearly wasn’t his night and he very clearly couldn’t find anything that worked, but he kept going. He worked and competed on both ends and did what leaders do. He was due an off night and I’m sure he’s bummed it came on this stage against this opponent. But don’t expect it to linger. I’m sure he’s as eager as anyone to get out there again Tuesday night at Iowa State.
**3 – Jalen Wilson -** Lots of defensive confusion and missteps and a few ill-advised shots, but he balanced that out with 8 points and 8 rebounds, numbers that, on a normal night, would look decent. This, however, was no normal night, and very few of those points or rebounds really even mattered much. Offensively, Wilson stayed aggressive and looked to attack. He just found trouble when he did and that either forced him to retreat or led to an off-balanced miss. Wilson hit 2 of 5 3-pointers in this game, but one came on the opening possession of the night. Other than that, he made just 1 of 5 2-pointers and never looked fully comfortable. Defensively, he did what he could on the glass and boxed out hard most of the night, which was no small feat against that front line.
**4 – Christian Braun -** Scored 13 points and grabbed 5 rebounds to go along with 3 assists and a steal in 32 minutes. But though the line was familiar, this was not a typical Braun game. He looked hesitant whenever he got near the paint, other than very early in the second half when he drove baseline and hammered a one-handed dunk but was whistled for traveling to wipe out the basket. There was some frustration boiling over on that play, and Braun carried that with him for most of the night. Still, you know the guy cares and that a loss like this will eat at him until he’s able to go back out there and do something about it.
**5 – KJ Adams -** Like a lot of you, I was surprised Self didn’t go to Adams a little earlier in the game, when it was clear that Kentucky’s bigs were having their way with the Jayhawks athletically. Adams might not be ready for that moment, but it would’ve been cool to see how he responded to it when this was still a game. Every time he comes into the game, he gives good energy and plays as hard as anyone on the floor. That can lead to mistakes as often as it leads to good production, but you never have to wonder if he’s going as hard as he can go. The idea of him getting more minutes the more the season goes on still makes an awful lot of sense, no matter what he does with them. Maybe he’ll emerge and become an X-factor of sorts. If not, it can’t be any worse than what KU’s bigs gave in this one.
**6 – Mitch Lightfoot -** Scored 6 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and fouled just once in 13 minutes. Can’t ask for much more. He missed a couple of bunnies that looked like they were in, but it was that kind of night for all of the Jayhawks. Lightfoot fought, in good moments and bad, and was very clearly worn out by trying to hang and battle with that bigger more athletic front line of Kentucky’s all night.
**7 – Bobby Pettiford -** Still working his way back into the rotation, Pettiford has looked rough during his limited minutes in the past couple of weeks. The minutes were limited again on Saturday night, but he did not look rough while playing them. He looked a lot like the guy we saw before the abdominal injury, which KU would welcome back with open arms right now. His stat line doesn’t show much, but if you watched him play in this one, you saw a guy who believed he belonged and wasn’t afraid of the stage.
**8 – David McCormack -** Virtually a non-factor in a game that he said was his optimal matchup. UK’s Oscar Tshiebwe was quicker, more athletic, more aggressive and more effective while McCormack played just 16 largely forgettable minutes and had next to no statistics to show for it. The Jayhawks are running out of time to get McCormack going and the harsh reality of it is he may never get to the level people once believed he could. He has his moments, sure. And KU is going to need him, like it or not. But he appears to have peaked in the second half of last season and has not done anything to show he has improved or become more consistent or dangerous since then. Credit some of Saturday’s struggles to the bad matchup — McCormack does not have the same athleticism as those Kentucky bigs. But with that being true, he has to find ways to impose his style and play to his strengths against guys like that and he does not appear to know how to do that.
**9 – Remy Martin -** Martin hit the early 3-pointer and roared and then missed one shortly thereafter and came out. He again went under screens too often and never really got a chance to get into the game when it was still a game despite playing 14 minutes. When he did come in during the second half, I saw a couple of things. The first was a guy who looked like his knee was bothering him. The second was a guy who had very little fire. The third was a guy who was right there with the rest of his teammates in having no answers for what the Wildcats were throwing at them. Martin was engaged with his teammates and coaches and still appears to be trying to figure it out. But he’s not having much luck getting there and the coaching staff doesn’t appear to be getting through to him either.
**10 – Jalen Coleman-Lands -** Played just 5 minutes and made 1 of 2 shots while also fouling once. He spent a lot of time throughout the night in conversation Self, presumably about defensive assignments, and appears to be drifting further away from being an impact player instead of gaining confidence and becoming a factor. He obviously still can shoot the ball. And this one loss, for a team that is still 17-3 overall, should not be one that sends people over the edge, freaking out and looking for answers where there might not be questions. Coleman-Lands is reliable enough to be a rotation guy. But if he’s not out there much, he can’t do much and he certainly can’t find any kind of offensive rhythm, which the Jayhawks could’ve used on Saturday night with Agbaji struggling to get going.
**11 – Joe Yesufu -** Played just 4 minutes when the game was already over and missed the only two shots he attempted. Credit to him for pulling the trigger and showing a little assertiveness. But the bottom line here is that Yesufu is struggling to get any kind of meaningful minutes and that does not appear to be close to changing.
Season standings
———–
1 – Ochai Agbaji, 193
2 – Christian Braun, 175
3 – Dajuan Harris Jr., 151
4 – Jalen Wilson, 119 •
5 – Remy Martin, 115z
6 – David McCormack, 109
7 – Mitch Lightfoot, 108
8 – Jalen Coleman-Lands, 60
T9 – KJ Adams, 58
T9 – Joseph Yesufu, 52
11 – Zach Clemence, 41y
12 – Bobby Pettiford, 40x
• Missed first 3 games to serve a suspension
x – Out since Dec. 6 with abdominal injury (returned Jan. 11)
z – Missed 3 games with a knee injury
y – Out with a toe injury starting Jan. 11 (returned Jan. 22)