The Kansas basketball team loses so infrequently — see: the Jayhawks’ two setbacks 20 games into this season and just 6.4 a year in Bill Self’s previous 13 seasons in charge at KU — it’s easy to spot the common issues that lead to defeats over the course of a few months.
The Jayhawks went more than 10 weeks between their season-opening loss to Indiana, in Honolulu, and their first Big 12 road bump Tuesday at West Virginia, but a handful of commonalities tied the games together.
Here are five areas of concern that emerged for Kansas (18-2 overall, 7-1 Big 12) in its defeats.
Uncharacteristically low field-goal percentage
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Headed into Saturday’s primetime showdown at Kentucky, KU is shooting .498 from the field this season. But the Jayhawks underperformed offensively in both of their losses. In a 103-99 overtime loss to the Hoosiers, KU went 31-for-71 (.437). At West Virginia, the reigning Big 12 champions only made 25 of 69 shots (.424).
The Jayhawks actually have shot worse and won this season (.387 against Georgia, and .403 at Oklahoma), but a below-average outing against talented, high-profile teams typically won’t cut it. When shots aren’t falling, working harder for better looks is a must.
Rebound margin
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Self will be the first to say this team doesn’t rebound like he wants it to. KU has out-rebounded its foes on 12 occasions, drawn even in three games and lost the battle of the boards in five games.
The Jayhawks’ average margin for the season is +5.9, but, as you probably guessed or remember, they were out-rebounded in both of their losses. Indiana dominated the glass, 50-39, and WVU outworked KU 39-32 on the boards.
There obviously isn’t an abundance of size within KU’s rotation. Senior Landen Lucas (11.3 rebounds a game in Big 12 play) and freshman Josh Jackson (6.6) need all the help they can get on the glass. In KU’s lone conference loss so far, substitutes Carlton Bragg and Lagerald Vick each only contributed one rebound, while playing a combined 26 minutes. And now, Self announced Thursday night, Bragg has been suspended indefinitely.
Bench scoring
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Speaking of Bragg and Vick, they essentially represented the extent of the Kansas bench, because they had been the only two substitutes with consistent roles.
Plenty has changed for the Jayhawks since their November loss to Indiana, when the Hoosiers’ backups outscored KU’s 28-21. Svi Mykhailiuk has moved into the starting lineup and Udoka Azubuike is out for the season with a wrist injury. And bench production has become a massive concern since, with Bragg out of the mix for who knows how long.
West Virginia’s substitutes out-produced KU 21-7. The 14-point margin in that category marked the fourth time in the past six games Kansas was outscored by double digits in bench points. This category will inevitably remain an issue against deeper opponents. The Jayhawks definitely need more than the combined seven points Bragg and Vick contributed at WVU moving forward, and they’ll have to look for it from Vick and, most likely, less experienced freshman Mitch Lightfoot.
Off night for Frank Mason
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Kansas wouldn’t have spent the past 10 weeks ranked within the top five in the AP poll without its senior point guard. Averaging a team-leading 19.9 points and 5.2 assists in his fourth and final college season, Mason’s success on offense ties in closely with his team’s ability to win.
For the most part, Mason has been great. He’s shooting .512 from the field this season and .528 from 3-point range. Kansas is fortunate to have his efficient scoring.
On the rare occasions when Mason’s shots aren’t falling, though, KU is in trouble. He shot 8-for-20 versus Indiana and 6-for-16 at West Virginia. In Morgantown this week, Mason missed five layups and another point-blank shot.
Of course, Mason isn’t going to be flawless every game, but he typically makes up for any shooting woes at the free-throw line. The 5-foot-11 guard also shot 6-for-16 from the field against Oklahoma State, but went 9-for-12 at the charity stripe. Against WVU, though, Mason didn’t even attempt one free throw.
[Mason knows exactly how much][1] his coach and teammates need out of him, and he’s proven capable of handling a multitude of duties. If an opponent has success stopping Mason, at least one of his teammates — other than the reliable Devonte’ Graham and Josh Jackson — needs to step up and give KU a scoring boost.
Opposing frontcourt players going off
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Self doesn’t have waves of big men to utilize in the paint the way some of his past teams did, and KU’s opponents have taken note.
Six-foot-10 Indiana center Thomas Bryant and 6-8 forward OG Anunoby overpowered KU in the opener, when Bryant produced 19 points and 10 rebounds and Anunoby went for 13 points and seven boards.
In KU’s latest setback, it was 6-8 WVU forward Esa Ahmad who thrived, going for a season-high 27 points and converting 10 of his 16 2-point shots, while scoring 14 points in the paint.
Six-nine West Virginia senior forward Nathan Adrian gave Kansas issues, too. He scored 11 points and drained all three of his 3-point attempts, bringing up another potential issue for Kansas.
KU’s bigs (and/or guards defending opposing bigs while playing as an undersized 4) haven’t proven they can properly defended centers and power forwards who stretch the floor by spotting up behind the 3-point arc. Anunoby and Bryant found success there, too, combining to make five 3-pointers.
With Bragg unavailable and Lightfoot not able to defend the paint as well as Lucas has, the Jayhawks might have to aggressively double effective big men inside, as they did against Texas in the first half. And when one of those rare stretch-bigs appear, Kansas could be better off sending 6-foot-8 freshman Jackson to keep him in check.
[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/smithology/2017/jan/21/frank-mason-knows-best/