Josh Jackson heats up late, scores 14 points in KU’s 92-74 exhibition victory over Washburn

It took Kansas freshman guard Josh Jackson, the No. 1-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2016, a good, long while to score his first points in his first college game — Tuesday’s somewhat difficult 92-74 victory over Division II Washburn in steamy Allen Fieldhouse.

Jackson, a 6-foot-8 native of Detroit, had four turnovers and three fouls when he drove the middle of the lane and scored the initial bucket of what figures to be a one-and-done college career with 13:51 left in the Jayhawks’ exhibition opener against the Ichabods.

It was a game that, oh by the way, featured a near triple double by senior Frank Mason, who had 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

Jackson — he was taken out of the game by coach Bill Self a minute into the second half after committing his fourth turnover — heated up in a hurry upon returning. He scored 11 points in a 5 1/2-minute flurry (13:51 to 8:27) and finished with 14 points off 6-of-12 shooting with four rebounds and five turnovers in 20 minutes.

“I was just a little nervous when I first came out (for the game). I had a talk with a couple guys in the locker room and coaching staff,” Jackson said of halftime. “I got my head together.

“I talked to Frank,” he said. “He told me not to worry about it. Coach Townsend (Kurtis, assistant) pulled me aside and told me to play my game and play more aggressive. That’s what I tried to do.”

Four of Jackson’s first five buckets were off slashes to the hoop, impressing fans who braved muggy conditions in KU’s 61-year-old arena, which has no air conditioning and thus resembled a sauna on an unseasonably warm 80-degree day.

The freshman said he had the wrong attitude for his opener.

“I was focused on looking bad, not focused on the game,” Jackson said.

Of Jackson’s collegiate debut, Self said: “I thought Josh had a rough night. I didn’t think anybody other than Frank played well. He (Jackson) scored the ball some the second half. I will not get real excited about that. He didn’t handle it very well, didn’t pass it very well. Those are potentially things he can be very good at.”

The Jayhawks had some trouble disposing of the Ichabods, leading by just nine points with 17 minutes to play and 11 with seven minutes left. KU was led by Mason and Svi Mykhailiuk, who scored 21 and 16 points respectively. Mykhailiuk hit four threes in six attempts.

KU, which did use a four-guard lineup at times (the first four-guard unit included Jackson, Mason, Devonte Graham, Lagerald Vick and big man Landen Lucas), held a 50-34 halftime lead behind Mason’s 11 points and eight assists. Lucas finished with 10 points and Vick nine for KU.

The Jayhawks were outrebounded by the Ichabods, 45-44, prompting Self to say the Jayhawks were “soft tonight. They were quicker than us.”

Mitch Lightfoot had seven boards and Dwight Coleby six for KU, which committed 24 turnovers to Washburn’s 20.

KU will meet Emporia State at 7 p.m. Sunday in its final exhibition game. Washburn, which was led by Cameron Wiggins’ 14 points, will meet Kansas State at 8 p.m. Friday in Manhattan and Oklahoma at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Norman.

Critical coach

Self was not impressed with the Jayhawks’ performance, that’s for sure.

“Nobody got hurt. I’d say that was the biggest positive,” he said of the game. “We said we weren’t going to show anything, which we didn’t, but still the couple of things we did try to do were pretty brutal. Give them credit,” he said of the Ichabods. “They played faster and tougher and were quicker and certainly they rebounded the ball better. Our passing and ballhandling were pretty brutal.”

Mason disappointed in KU’s play

Mason, who is one of KU’s team leaders, said, “it doesn’t really matter,” that he barely missed a triple double. “I’m just disappointed with the way we played as a team. We definitely have a lot of things we have to get better at. I’m just looking forward to the next game.”

As far as what specifically bothered him about KU’s play, he said: “On the defensive end … it wasn’t sound. Guys weren’t in the right spots, and I don’t think we rebounded as well as we should have.

“We were awful (in transition defense),” he said. “We did a bad job communicating and calling out who we had on defense. It led to easy baskets, and we can’t have that moving forward.”

Of a lack of communication, Mason said: “It was definitely a serious problem. I expect everyone to communicate because I tell the guys that talking makes up for mistakes and helps guys out. I was just telling the guys we need to talk, we need to communicate and say who has who on defense so we can be sorted out better on the defensive end.”

KU presents gift to Chipman

KU presented Washburn coach Bob Chipman with a set of golf clubs before the game. This is his 38th and final season as coach of the Ichabods.

“Some of those clubs in that bag, I think somebody played with them in 1975,” Self said. “There were a couple old ones in there. I told him, ‘Hey this isn’t what we are getting you, but this is what we are going to get you.’ We’ll pick out what he wants from tailor-made. We’ll get him a nice set (of clubs). ‘Chip’ has had an unbelievable career. He’s been great to our players over time. He employs so many of them along with (players from) K-State and Wichita State (as summer camp counselor). I hope Washburn has a good year for him.”

Diallo has final six

Hamidou Diallo, a 6-4 senior shooting guard from Putnam (Conn.) Science Academy who is ranked No. 10 in the recruiting class of 2017 by Rivals.com, has narrowed his list of schools to six. They are: KU, Kentucky, Syracuse, Indiana, Arizona and Connecticut.

Tuesday’s exhibition summary

KANSAS 92

WASHBURN 74, exh.

Washburn: Wiggins 5-11 0-0 14, Smith 4-9 0-2 10, Skeens 3-8 0-4 6, Salach 2-3 0-0 5, Blake 1-8 0-2 2, Clark 5-13 0-0 11, Pyle 3-8 1-3 9, Martin 2-5 2-2 6, Holmberg 1-1 2-2 4, Holmes 1-2 1-4 3, Ogbonna 0-1 2-4 2, Huppe 1-2 0-0 2, Lickteig 0-2 0-0 0, Fagins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-73 8-23 74.

Kansas: Mason III 6-11 7-11 21, Jackson 6-12 1-5 14, Lucas 3-4 4-5 10, Graham 2-5 0-0 6, Bragg Jr. 3-4 0-0 6, Mykhailiuk 5-7 2-2 16, Vick 4-6 0-0 9, Azubuike 2-3 1-2 5, Lightfoot 0-2 3-9 3, Self 1-2 0-0 2, Coleby 0-3 0-0 0, Vang 0-0 0-0 0, Young 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-59 18-34 92. Half: Kansas 50-34. Att: 16,300.

This story was originally published November 1, 2016 at 9:25 PM with the headline "Josh Jackson heats up late, scores 14 points in KU’s 92-74 exhibition victory over Washburn."