LAWRENCE – Kansas basketball’s non-conference slate featured some high-profile wins.
Over the course of a few days in November, the Jayhawks beat UNC at home and Michigan State in a neutral-site game in Atlanta. Later that month, KU traveled to Las Vegas for a neutral site game against Duke and won that as well. By beating NC State in December at home, Kansas can boast a trio of victories against major North Carolina State teams.
But after the Dec. 22 game, following a home win over Brown that concluded non-conference play, Jayhawks forward KJ Adams and coach Bill Self both pointed out the good and the bad of Brown’s situation. the team before the start of Big 12 Conference play. Adams pointed out what Self told the team after beating Brown, that without some time, Self’s grade for his overall non-conference performance would have been an A+. That streak, back-to-back losses to Creighton and Missouri in December, necessitated a lower rating.
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“We had five really lousy days and we got what we deserved, but overall, I don’t know, probably B- overall,” Self said. “It’s a tough schedule and a B-, but we had five crappy days. If you could drop two exams, if you took the right class where you could drop your two worst exams, then we probably would have had a pretty good semester. But not all teachers allow this.
Zeke Mayo proved to be a bright spot for No. 7 Kansas (9-2) as the transfer guard thrived alongside the Jayhawks’ veteran trio of Adams, center Hunter Dickinson and guard Dajuan Harris Jr. The same goes for Forward in Flory Bidunga, as he showed he can be trusted for a role during his first year in college. There is more room for growth for KU, however, in several areas that go beyond individual players, as the team attempts to establish an identity that can propel it to a Big 12 title.
After beating Brown, he thought his team was better than it was a week before, but he acknowledged the identity probably isn’t there yet. Although he mentioned that the players love each other and share the ball among other positives, when it comes to toughness, defensive rebounds and making tough plays that win close games, the Kansas needs to improve. Adams also talked about finding an identity on the defensive end.
The Jayhawks’ Big 12 opener is Dec. 31 at home against West Virginia (9-2), which still means a long stretch between games — like the one between the Dec. 14 win over NC State and the December 22 victory against Brun. Adams admitted he wasn’t a fan of such long breaks. But before the game against WVU, KU has the chance to take advantage of a series of practices that Adams also felt served them well between matchups against NC State and Brown.
“It’s been great for us to have all these practices back-to-back, back-to-back,” Adams said after the win over Brown. “We don’t know what to do with ourselves five or six days between games. But it was fun to just anchor on games and get more chemistry than we already had.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas sports at the Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association Sportswriter of the Year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article was originally published on Topeka Capital-Journal: In Bill Self’s grade for Kansas basketball in non-conference play
