After two tough matchups against UNC and Michigan State, Kansas basketball enjoyed a less stressful situation, beating Oakland by 21.
Kansas has faced one of the tougher non-conference schedules in the country so far, taking on North Carolina and Michigan State in back-to-back games. They were delighted to welcome Oakland today, and took care of business, winning by a final score of 78-57.
AJ Storr led the team in scoring with 16. Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams, and Rylan Griffen also finished in double figures.
Takeaway #1: AJ Storr finally breaks out
AJ Storr, the highly touted transfer started off the season slower than the Jayhawks had hoped. Through three games, he was averaging just 8.5 points a game, 6th most on the team. Against Oakland, he showed what he’s worth, scoring 16 points on 7-9 shooting in just 19 minutes. He was scoring on all three levels and looked confident at all times.
If Kansas wants to be the surefire-best team in the country, they’ll consistently need games like this from Storr, and he showed today that he’s capable of it. We see all the time that transfers can start slow as they get introduced to a new system and new teammates, but today could be a sign of good things to come for him.
Takeaway #2: Kansas’s ball movement looked elite
Kansas came into this game 47th in the country in assists per game, averaging 18.3. They’ll surely move up a few spots after today’s performance. They finished with 24 assists, a season-high for them on 32 made shots. If Kansas can move the ball and not have anyone playing hero ball, it will be extremely tough on the defenses and allow the offense to flow smoothly, as we saw today.
Every player who played more than five minutes except Flory Bidunga had an assist, something a coach loves to see. Dajuan Harris led the way with six assists for the Jayhawks.
Takeaway #3: Free throws remain an issue
Kansas basketball does a lot of things right, but the one weak spot all season has been free-throw shooting. Coming into this game, they shot 72.9% from the line, 133rd in the country. On Saturday, they shot 6-11, or 54.5%. It was a small sample size compared to the previous games, but not what you want to see.
Kansas will play tons of close games in the Big 12, and a couple of free throws can be the difference-maker between a win and a loss. They need to clean this issue up if they want to win not only non-conference games but everything else.
Next up for Kansas (4-0): vs. UNC Wilmington (3-0) – Nov. 19 at 8 p.m.
Next up for Oakland (1-3): vs. Eastern Michigan (2-2) – Nov. 21 at 7 p.m.
[…] a 2-0 week, defeating Michigan State in the Champions Classic before a 19-point home win against Oakland on Saturday. Bill Self passed Phog Allen for most wins in Kansas basketball history, a tremendous […]