Wednesday night’s 75-70 victory over Georgetown in Washington D.C., sure seemed like the most entertaining KU game of the year so far.
It featured two teams that each threw five guys onto the floor at pretty much all times who competed their butts off on every possession, for points, rebounds, loose balls and floor burns.
I’m sure for fans of both teams, there were plenty of moments when you wanted to pull your hair out or pound the table, but if you’re just a college basketball fan and you flipped the TV to Fox Sports 1 last night, I’m guessing you were wildly entertained from start to finish.
For the Jayhawks, the game featured a little bit of everything – tough play, solid defense, three-point shooting and easy buckets at the rim. It also included a couple of tough moments in which the Jayhawks (7-1) were forced to withstand a couple of storms from the Hoyas and the home crowd.
I know KU fans expect the Jayhawks to win every time they hit the floor, but it’s time to take a moment to appreciate what this team has done during the past couple of weeks. Victories over Rhode Island, Tennessee, Michigan State, Florida and Georgetown would make a pretty good tournament resume come March. The fact that KU won these games consecutively and so early in the season shows you just how talented this group could be by the end of the season.
Quick takeaway
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For me, Wednesday’s victory was not just about Brannen Greene going bananas from downtown to lead the Jayhawks to victory. It was about the Jayhawks’ ability to respond. It seemed like every time Georgetown threw a punch, the Jayhawks threw one back and regained control of the game. After watching their 13-point first-half lead disappear, KU responded with a strong finish to the half when Frank Mason drove hard to the rim in the waning seconds and hit a tough layup to put Kansas up two at the break. Later, after Georgetown tied the game at 58 with a three-pointer, Mason immediately answered on the other end with a three-pointer to put KU ahead again. And, of course, there was the stretch early in the second half when the Hoyas built a three-point lead and looked to be on the brink of taking control only to see KU respond with a Greene three-pointer, a tough defensive stand and another Greene trey in the next three trips. Those were just a few examples of how KU showed its resolve all night. And that could have been, by far, the most important thing this young team gained from its latest victory.
Three reasons to smile
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**1 – How about KU’s three-point shooting?** Led by Greene’s 5-of-5 showing, the Jayhawks finished 10 of 17 from downtown, with five different players knocking down at least one shot from behind the arc. Consistent and quality three-point shooting has been missing for Kansas during the past couple of seasons, and, at least lately, this team has shown it has the ability to light it up from the outside in its arsenal.
**2 – Overall, I thought KU’s defense was pretty good.** Frank Mason played one of his best defensive games of the season — all on a bum ankle — and the Jayhawks held Georgetown to 40 percent shooting, 39 percent in the second half. Georgetown’s starting back court shot just 4-of-17 from the floor and the Hoyas coughed it up 16 times while Kansas out-rebounded the physically imposing home team by two. KU also swiped nine steals by five different players and many of those led to transition opportunities, which should be a huge part of the winning recipe for a team this deep, athletic and talented.
**3 – Perry Ellis did not lead the Jayhawks in scoring, but he sure was fantastic.** He finished with a double-double of 13 points and 10 boards in 39 minutes and shot just 4-of-15 from the floor, but was aggressive all night and just missed on so many shots that would’ve turned that pointed total into 25 in a hurry. What’s more impressive is that played all those minutes and grabbed all those boards while fouling just once. Ellis also added three steals and two blocks to his stat line and his minutes, boards and smaller stats more than made up for the missed shots.
Three reasons to sigh
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**1 – Whether it’s been a six-point lead, a 10-point lead or the 13-point lead we saw in the first half against Georgetown, the Jayhawks have shown an ability to get complacent** at times and watch control of the game slip away. Clearly, KU was able to grind this one out, but there’s no way that a 28-15 lead in the first half should have been 34-32 at the break. Turnovers, missed shots and Georgetown waking up all contributed to the slip, but this team still needs to learn how to turn that 13-point advantage into a 20-point lead while going for the knockout blow instead of allowing the opponent to crawl back into it. A lot of that comes from leadership and experience, both of which are works in progress on this roster.
**2 – The Jayhawks made just eight field goals in the second half and shot 33 percent for the half and 38 percent for the game.** A big reason for that was Ellis’ 11 misses and a big reason it didn’t kill them was the red-hot three-point shooting and 32 trips to the free throw line. Five of KU’s eight second-half field goals were three pointers and the Jayhawks made 20 of 24 free throws in the second half. Even though they survived, though, the poor shooting in the second half is worth noting because it — along with those three-point tries — points to KU still struggling a little to get good shots in its halfcourt offense.
**3 – Brannen Greene was celebrated from coast to coast for the way he shot the ball and he definitely should’ve been, but imagine** what the guy could do if he played just a little better defense and didn’t foul quite so easily. There’s still time for improvement in both of those areas, and, if it comes, Greene’s 18 minutes against Georgetown could easily have turned into 25 or more and there’s no telling what kind of point total that would’ve led to the way he was shooting the ball.
One for the road
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KU’s hard-fought road win in the nation’s capital…
• Extended its win streak to six-straight games.
• Made the Jayhawks 7-1 for the second time in the last three seasons and the seventh time in Bill Self’s 12 seasons at Kansas.
• Improved Kansas’ lead in the all-time series with Georgetown to 3-1.
• Kept Self unbeaten against Georgetown (3-0) and made him 332-70 at Kansas and 539-175 overall.
• Improved KU’s all-time record 2,133-823.
Next up
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The Jayhawks return to the area this weekend and will take on No. 13 Utah at 2:15 p.m. at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The Utes (6-1) are off to one of the best starts in school history and figure to be yet another solid challenge in a stretch of tough games for Kansas.
Kansas guard Brannen Greene (14) heads to the bucket past Georgetown forward Paul White (13) during the second half on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014 at Verizon Center in Washington D.C.
By the Numbers: Kansas wins 75-70 at Georgetown
