**1 – Dajuan Harris Jr. -** He made all five 3-pointers he attempted, 6 of 7 overall and finished with a career-high 18 points on a night when KU needed every one of them. So many of Harris’ shots were wide open, something he credited his teammates for, but he still knocked them in and, more importantly, he stepped up and took them. This team wants Harris to shoot more and his teammates all believe he’s a great shooter. He’s just so often more concerned with making plays for others and getting his teammates going that he often happily passes up his own scoring opportunities. Maybe that won’t be the case anymore. Either way, it’ll always come down to Harris doing whatever Kansas needs him to do to win.
**2 – KJ Adams -** You could’ve put Adams in the No. 1 spot for his effort on the game’s second-to-last play alone. That dunk, out of a full sprint, with one of the biggest dudes in the building chasing him down was spectacular. Not only did it give Kansas a three-point lead, it did it with an exclamation point. It’s easy to imagine the number of players who would’ve flubbed that play in some way — missed the dunk, stopped running, pulled the ball out, turned it over, etc. Adams didn’t, though. He delivered. Just like he did all night long. He finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds on 7-of-13 shooting in 31 minutes. KU point guard Bobby Pettiford called the short-roll passes to Adams after the ball screen KU’s “go-to offense,” which tells you all you need to know about both how Adams is playing and how important he has become. Tuesday night in Lubbock was just the latest example of that.
**3 – Jalen Wilson -** Wilson finished just 6-of-16 from the floor and 3-of-9 from 3-point range, but he score 13 of his 16 points in a 5-minute span in the first half that helped Kansas find its footing. Wilson’s 3-point shooting in the first half helped turned a 13-5 deficit into a seven-point halftime lead for the Jayhawks and he did everything this team needed him to do, handling the ball, defending inside, battling on the boards and leading, all while playing 39 minutes. Wilson got plenty of help in this one, and Kansas needed every bit of it. But yet again Wilson was right there among KU’s leading scorers, showing why he’s one of the best players in the Big 12 and the nation.
**4 – Bobby Pettiford -** There’s little question that Tuesday night was Pettiford’s best game as a Jayhawk to date, and it came in part because of the numbers he put up — 7 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds — and in part because of how important his role was. With Joe Yesufu out with a hamstring tweak, Pettiford knew he was going to log big minutes and he did just that, playing 25 minutes in the win. He played with Harris, in place of Harris and even played both of KU’s wing positions at times. He’s so good getting to the rim, with or without the ball, and such a good finisher. He’s also finally healthy and starting to feel more and more comfortable as a bona fide college basketball player. Look out!
**5 – Gradey Dick -** He didn’t have it from 3-point range on Tuesday night, but he still made 5 of 11 shots, with two of them coming off of put-backs of his own misses. One, which he tracked down on the other side of the lane after missing a 3-pointer from the wing, was otherworldly. Bigger than any of that was the fact that Dick delivered a second consecutive strong game on the glass, finishing with a team-high 8 rebounds, which further illustrated how, for all of his talents, this young baller just continues to put in the kind of work that makes him better and better week after week. His 3 steals in this one are another indication of that, too.
**6 – Kevin McCullar Jr. -** McCullar was definitely pressing at times during his return to Lubbock, but he didn’t let it take him out of the game completely. He kept battling, kept competing and found a way to make a few plays late that were pretty big. Early foul trouble limited him to 27 minutes and might’ve contributed to his overall off night. McCullar said both before and after his homecoming against the Red Raiders that finding a way to win was the only thing that mattered and he and his teammates did exactly that, which left him in a much better place than he might’ve otherwise been with the stats he put up.
**7 – Cam Martin -** It was Martin and Ejiofor instead of Udeh and Clemence in this one, which could mean very little or could mean a lot. He played just 4 minutes, but did hit a jumper in the lane on the same type of short roll that Adams has perfected, and he used his offensive-minded foundation to look comfortable doing it. Martin’s also one of the stronger KU 5 men, so that might’ve played a role in his usage on Tuesday night, too.
**8 – Zuby Ejiofor -** Ejiofor was limited to 5 minutes during a night when the Jayhawks could have used his size, but he was pretty active when he was in there and finished with both a rebound and an assist while playing big enough to disrupt what Tech tried to do on a couple of offensive possessions.
**9 – MJ Rice -** Played just 2 minutes and was a little out of sync defensively, which limited his minutes. He did dish one assist during his time on the floor and might have played a little more had Pettiford not been as good as he was.
Season standings
———–
1 – Jalen Wilson, 121
2 – Dajuan Harris Jr., 109
3 – KJ Adams, 101
4 – Gradey Dick, 98
5 – Kevin McCullar Jr., 90o
6 – Bobby Pettiford, 67
7 – Joe Yesufu, 55
8 – MJ Rice, 45y
9 – Zuby Ejiofor, 42
10 – Ernest Udeh Jr., 39
11 – Zach Clemence, 20z
12 – Cam Martin, 11q
13 – Kyle Cuffe Jr., 2x
*x – Out for 10-12 weeks with a knee injury starting Nov. 13*
*y – Missed 3 of the first 5 games of the season because of injury and illness*
*z – Missed Duke, Southern Utah and NC State games because of injury*
*o – Missed Nov. 29 game vs. Texas Southern with a groin injury
*q – Missed first nine games of the season with shoulder injury
