KU’s Udoka Azubuike shooting at remarkable 79.7% clip through seven games
Udoka Azubuike has shown that, when healthy, and when properly fed the basketball in the post, he’s one of the most effective, efficient offensive players in Kansas history.
The 7-foot senior from Nigeria who shattered KU’s record for single-season field goal percentage during his sophomore season (77% from field to Mark Randall’s 64.6% mark in 1988-89) has made 79.7% of his shots (47 of 59 from field) for the Jayhawks, who are off to a 6-1 start following a 3-0 mark Monday through Wednesday at the Maui Invitational.
Azubuike, who leads the country in shooting percentage through seven games, hit 24 of 29 shot attempts for 82.8% in wins over Chaminade, BYU and Dayton in Maui.
“We said all along we had the best big in the country. Today he played like it,” KU coach Bill Self said Wednesday of Azubuike. He scored 29 points on 12-of-15 shooting in a 90-84 overtime victory over Dayton in the Maui Invitational championship game.
“Jamming the ball inside certainly paid off. Old-fashioned ball, throw it inside, prevailed,” Self added after the victory.
Azubuike scored KU’s first nine points of overtime. Included in the barrage of points … were three free throws made in three tries. For the game, he was 5 of 8 from the line and for the tourney he was 7 of 15 for 46.7%.
He’s now cashed 12 of 30 free throws for the year for 40 percent.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Azubuike said of his improved free throwing versus Dayton. “I work on my free throws every time, every practice. (It’s) being confident in myself, going out there and making the free throw, knocking it down. I was happy the hard work is coming through,” he added Wednesday, speaking on the postgame show on KU’s radio network.
As far as his scoring 29 points against Dayton, after scoring 15 points against Chaminade and 11 points versus BYU in the first two games of the tourney, Azubuike said all the credit goes to others.
“My teammates were able to find me and feed me in the post. That was big. I give credit to my teammates against Dayton, that’s a very good team we played,” Azubuike said.
The co-MVP with Azubuike for the tourney, Devon Dotson, had four assists in the title game after dishing eight versus BYU and one against Chaminade.
“We play games like this to get chemistry together,” Azubuike said of working with KU’s sophomore point guard. “He is a great point guard. He carried the team, also. I am happy to play alongside him.”
Azubuike, who is averaging 15.1 points and 7.6 rebounds a game in KU’s first seven games, played in just 11 games his freshman year and nine his junior campaign because of injuries. He played in 36 games his sophomore season — one in which he averaged 11.0 points a game on that school-record 77% shooting mark.
“In college I’ve dealt with a lot of injuries,” Azubuike said. “In my career in college, it has set me back a little bit. Coming out here (in Maui) playing, showing what I am capable of doing … I know what I can really do on the floor when given the chance and opportunity. To step on the floor and be able to have my teammates win this was big for me.”
Dotson assessed Azubuike’s performance: “He came up big in overtime with the free throws and stuff. I was excited for him. We all were. He came up big for us. We wanted to keep feeding him the ball.
“They were playing one-man coverage on him. I threw it over the top. It’s a wrap after that, once you get it down low. I’m excited for him. He played great,” Dotson added.
Azubuike — after the title game said his plan was to spend some time “near the water with my teammates” — starred in a video Thursday on Twitter in which he displayed some soccer skills with his teammates near the beach.
It seems the Jayhawks, who left Hawaii Thursday afternoon and were in Lawrence by 9 a.m. Friday, had a lot of time to develop chemistry during the just-completed trip to Hawaii.
“It was fun, a lot of fun,” Azubuike said of KU’s earning the title so far from campus.
“Togetherness,” Dotson said of the key to winning. “We were here a week, spending time with each other, just really drawing closer. Each game got closer. We were tested every game,” added Dotson, who averaged 21.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in his three outings in Maui. Azubuike averaged 18.3 points and 6.7 boards in the three wins. “We learn from each game to try to improve. It was a great trip, great to cap it off as champs,” Dotson added.
KU will next meet Colorado at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I’m so proud of them,” Self said. “We can be so much better than what we played (in final). That’s one of the best teams in the country we played, too.
“I told our guys it’s probably better to be tough than really smart because we didn’t play smart at all, but we were tough. We competed just about every possession. We competed so hard.”
That’s with Dotson and Azubuike leading the charge.
“He didn’t rebound like he can. He didn’t do a lot of things like we think he should, but he can compete,” Self said of Azubuike. “He took it right at their big guy (Obi Toppin, who scored 18 points and is considered a likely lottery pick). Doke didn’t guard him (Toppin) much, but he (Toppin) guarded Doke a lot. They had to take him (Toppin) off him (Azubuike) late. They didn’t have anybody his size who could guard him late.”
