KU-Oregon by the numbers

By Matt Tait     Mar 24, 2017

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Oregon forward Roman Sorkin, left, guard Dylan Ennis, guard Tyler Dorsey, forward Chris Boucher, guard Casey Benson (2) and head coach Dana Altman talk with media members during a press conference on Friday, March 24, 2017 at Sprint Center.

**Kansas City, Mo. -** By now, everybody knows that both coaches, several players on each side and most of the people paying attention to this game in any way, shape or form believe that Kansas and Oregon are pretty similar teams that play very similar styles.

And while things like pace and personnel clearly indicate that, the Jayhawks actually own a clear advantage in most of the major statistical categories.

Not so surprisingly, Oregon’s advantages come on the defensive end, where the Ducks hold teams to fewer points and lower field goal and 3-point percentages while also owning a better turnover margin than Kansas.

But those are the results of numbers that have been compiled over the course of an entire 37-game season. In the last three games alone, the Jayhawks’ defense has improved significantly and been almost on par with KU’s explosive offense.

If that trend continues, and the Jayhawks are able to take advantage of the offensive edge that these numbers indicate they have, KU will be in great position to cut down the nets in Kansas City and reach its third Final Four under Bill Self and first since 2012.

One stat that might be a little misleading is Oregon’s advantage in blocks per game. That number came with injured big man Chris Boucher in the lineup and were a direct reflection of Boucher’s shot-blocking ability. In the four games the Ducks have played without Boucher, they have recorded a total of just eight blocks.

A quick look at a couple of key KenPom.com numbers shows an even steeper hill for the Ducks to climb. Kansas is currently ranked No. 3 by KenPom and Oregon comes in at No. 14.

Beyond that, KU’s No. 3 ranking in adjusted offensive efficiency is 16 spots higher than Oregon, in 19th, and the two teams are 23rd (Oregon) and 24th (Kansas) in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Those numbers lead to the conclusion that if both teams play their best game, Kansas’ superior offensive numbers would win out.

At this stage of the tournament, though, anything can happen, which makes all the numbers worth a look.

Points per game

**KU:** 83.9 **Oregon:** 79.1

FG percentage

**KU:** 49.2 **Oregon:** 48.3

3-point FG percentage

**KU:** 41.1 **Oregon:** 38.1

Free throw percentage

**KU:** 67.6 **Oregon:** 70.5

Rebounds per game

**KU:** 38.9 **Oregon:** 36.5

Offensive rebounding percentage

**KU:** 38.4 **Oregon:** 35.1

Assists per game

**KU:** 16.3 **Oregon:** 16.1

Blocks per game

**KU:** 4.6 **Oregon:** 6.3

Steals per game

**KU:** 7.0 **Oregon:** 6.6

Scoring defense

**KU:** 71.8 **Oregon:** 65.6

FG percentage defense

**KU:** 41.8 **Oregon:** 40.6

3-point FG percentage defense

**KU:** 35.3 **Oregon:** 31.4

Turnover margin

**KU:** +0.6 **Oregon:** +1.9

vs. current AP Top 25

**KU:** 7-2 **Oregon:** 3-3

KenPom ranking

**KU:** 3 **Oregon:** 14

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.