How KU defended Duke’s Grayson Allen, and what it means for the future

After fighting through a screen on one side, Frank Mason knew there were more coming his way.

While face-guarding Duke’s Grayson Allen early in the second half of Tuesday’s 77-75 victory, Mason prepared himself to fight through two more bodies, popping out to the perimeter for Allen’s pass before he could get there himself.

Eventually, Allen received the ball, but Mason was there when he tried to drive right. Landen Lucas provided help on a ball screen, and unable to find an opening, Allen forced up a contested 15-footer for an airball.

It was part of one of the worst nights of Allen’s career. The preseason consensus All-American finished with 12 points, which was his lowest point total in 28 games. He also made just 4 of 15 shots.

“They played really good defense on Grayson,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said afterwards. “You can’t just beat them off the dribble.”

There was perhaps good reason that Coach K used the word “they” in his quote.

KU’s perimeter defense isn’t a one- or two-person effort, which is part of what makes the ceiling tantalizing for this year’s team.

So many times, sports are simple. Allen is Duke’s scorer, so a question before the game might have been this: Who will guard him for KU?

During the first 15 minutes of the second half — the time when KU coach Bill Self said his team played its best defense of the young season — here’s who was guarding Allen: almost everyone.

Mason took Allen for 11 early possessions. Then it was 6-foot-8 Josh Jackson for three, Devonté Graham for five and Lagerald Vick for six more.

In other words, Self is confident enough with his players’ sliding ability that four guys are allowed the nation’s best player.

“I think the really special thing about us is we’re a pretty good team offensively, but I think we’ve got really, really good defenders,” Jackson said. “I think that’s going to be the key to our team this year is defense.”

Self is quick to point out his team is “not there yet” defensively. Much of that in his mind goes back to rebounding, where the Jayhawks especially had issues in their opening loss against Indiana.

But in today’s college basketball — a game that’s becoming more guard-driven, especially because of the value a team can get from drawing fouls — it’s hard to imagine a better luxury than having a team that potentially can cut off dribble penetration from each perimeter spot.

Mason was the hero Tuesday, and rightfully so following his tough game-winning jumper.

If we’re being honest, though, KU won the game with its defense. Duke — projected as the top offense in the nation by Ken Pomeroy’s metrics — was held to 1.03 points per possession. Another way to look at it: When Duke was held to that total or below last year, it went 0-7.

“Their backcourt ... it’s a big-time backcourt,” Krzyzewski said.

It’s not just one-dimensional, either.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 5:46 PM with the headline "How KU defended Duke’s Grayson Allen, and what it means for the future."