Well, that was a first.
After setting the college basketball world on fire during the first couple of weeks of the season with big time performance after big time performance, Kansas senior Frank Mason III finally surrendered his spot as the Jayhawks’ top scorer, giving way to freshman Josh Jackson, who led everyone with 22 points in [KU’s 83-63 win over UAB][1] at Sprint Center in the CBE Classic.
Surpassing Mason wasn’t easy, though.
The 6-foot-8 freshman needed every one of his monster dunks and timely free throws to outscor his senior teammate, who finished with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-6 from three-point range.
Mason, who entered Monday’s game averaging 23 points per night, led Kansas with 30 points vs. Indiana, 21 points vs. Duke and 18 points in the home opener against Siena.
While his 20-point night against UAB certainly keeps him in line with those strong performances, it also prompted one media member to ask KU coach Bill Self about Mason’s role as more of an “unsung hero” on this Kansas team.
Self saw it differently.
“It’s really, really nice,” said Self said of having someone as steady as Mason running his team. “But I don’t think he’s an unsung hero. He was National Player of the Week, so I don’t see him being unsung at all. I know he’s not in our mind. I know everybody in our room understands and appreciates his value.”
If there’s one area in which Self would like to limit Mason, it’s playing time. Although he loves having his tough-as-nails point guard on the floor as much as possible, Self also recognizes the importance of keeping him fresh and not wearing him down.
There’s more to it than that, though.
“I do think we need to limit his minutes,” Self admitted. “To let other guys play better, we’ve got to limit his and Devonte (Graham’s) minutes.”
Despite the Jayhawks winning by 20 points on Monday, Mason played 35 minutes against UAB and, as he always seems to do, took a couple of hard shots and hit the floor more than his share of times.
Late in the game, Mason tumbled to the ground and stayed down for a few minutes, grabbing his lower right leg before getting up and heading to the bench. Self said after the game that Mason was fine and did not need any kind of special treatment.
Although Mason has yet to play fewer than 35 minutes in a game this season, that clearly has not hurt his production.
As much as Self would like to rest Mason more, and as much as Mason might benefit from it, don’t expect it to happen all that often. The senior from Petersburg, Virginia, has been a workhorse for this team for three seasons and it’s hard to imagine him surrendering that role now during his final season of college basketball.
Mason and the Jayhawks will take on Georgia (3-1) at 9 p.m. tonight in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic championship game at Sprint Center.
• — For a preview of what to expect in tonight’s match-up, join our Gameday Chat with Matt Tait to talk KU-Georgia. Submit questions early or join the live chat at 2 p.m. central time. — •
[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2016/nov/21/time-explode-josh-jackson-carries-ku-kc/
