Ochai Agbaji scores 22 against parents’ alma mater as KU wins 300th game of decade
Olofu Agbaji and his wife, Erica, visited with their son, Kansas sophomore guard Ochai Agbaji, on Monday about their beloved alma mater’s upcoming nonconference clash against the Jayhawks.
“I just told him to take it easy on us,” Ochai’s dad told The Star after watching his son score 22 points and grab eight rebounds while playing 34 minutes in the Jayhawks’ 95-68 victory over the Milwaukee Panthers of the Horizon League on Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I’m always dad first, then alumni,” added Olofu, whose wife also played hoops at Milwaukee.
Ochai Agbaji, a 6-foot-5 former Oak Park High standout who tied his personal best mark of five threes in a game Tuesday, hit three threes as KU rolled to an 11-0 lead.
“I looked at the score and said, ‘Let us get one (point) please,” Olofu said with a smile. “We got one and I said, ‘OK.’’’
The Jayhawks led 17-1 en route to building a 30-point first-half lead.
Was Ochai extra fired up playing against his parents’ school?
“Not really. They didn’t really say anything to me. My dad said something like, ‘Take it easy on ‘em,’’’ Ochai said, smiling. “A lot of his friends are here from back when they were on the team. They came back for the game. It’ll be nice to see them. I definitely know the history of that school and it’s where they came from.”
Agbaji had the game’s top individual play. He accepted a lob from Devon Dotson (22 points, career-high nine assists against one turnover) and deposited a reverse slam in the second half.
“I wanted to put some style in it. I just jumped. I thought, ‘I might as well,’’’ Agbaji said of reversing in mid-air.
Of the dunk, his dad, Olofu said: “Yes I saw it. Amazing. I want to go see it again (on replay).”
And Dotson said: “I saw him running. He pointed up and I threw it up there. I knew if it’s somewhere close he can go up and get it. So I just tried to make a play. I was surprised (he went reverse). I didn’t know he was going to do all that but it was great.”
Agbaji’s eight rebounds didn’t go unnoticed.
“What I see is a guy going to the glass every time. He’s really rebounding well,” KU coach Bill Self said after the Jayhawks wrapped up their 300th victory (against 67 losses) in the final home game of the decade. Only Gonzaga has more wins in the decade at 304. KU finished the decade 151-7 in games at Allen Fieldhouse.
Senior Udoka Azubuike grabbed a career-high 17 boards to go with 15 points.
“Doke had 10 the first half. We challenged him to get 10 the second half,” Self said.
Indeed, Azubuike credited, “the coaches. They were telling me to go out there and get more rebounds. I challenged myself.”
Also for KU, Marcus Garrett tied a career high with seven assists to go with seven points.
No. 2-ranked KU (8-1) will next meet UMKC at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Sprint Center. If KU wins, it likely will be No. 1 next week. No. 1 Louisville lost to Texas Tech, 70-57, on Tuesday.
“We see No. 1,” Agbaji said. “The bigger picture is we have other goals this season. The rankings don’t matter. Our goal now is to win conference, start dominating that again. I’m ready for that (conference play). Rankings don’t really matter.”
KU by the way, led 52-27 at half but outscored Milwaukee (5-5) by just 43-41 the second half. The biggest lead of the game was 30 points.
Dotson scored 17 points the first half on 6-of-11 shooting (3 of 5 from three), while Agbaji contributed nine points on 3-of-5 three-point shooting as KU rolled to a 52-27 halftime lead.
Azubuike had 10 rebounds, seven points and a block in the half. Isaiah Moss and Christian Braun hit a three apiece as KU made 8 of 17 threes in the half to the Panthers’ 3 of 15. KU hit 54.3% of its shots to Milwaukee’s 30%. For the game KU hit 54.2 percent (12 of 28 threes) to Milwaukee’s 36.4 percent (7 of 35 threes).
Guard Roy had 15 of Milwaukee’s 27 points.
Agbaji hit three three-pointers and Dotson a bucket and it was 11-0 KU at 17:51. The lead grew to 17-1 at 15:20 following two buckets by McCormack and one by Azubuike. And it was 23-4 KU at 14:07 following a pair of threes by Dotson.
KU led 40-12 during a stoppage at 7:51. At that point, KU had made 15 of 22 shots (68.2% to Milwaukee’s 4 of 17 for 23.5%). Led by Dotson and Agbaji, who had knocked down three threes apiece, KU had cashed 8 of 13 threes in the first 12 minutes to the Panthers’ 2 of 8. Dotson had 13 and Agbaji nine, going for 22 of KU’s first 40 tallies.
Milwaukee, which trailed by 25 points at halftime, opened the second half, 7-1, to cut KU’s biggest lead of 30 points to 53-34 at 17:17.
Milwaukee was attempting to earn its first victory over a nationally ranked opponent since a 63-60 decision against No. 21 Butler on February 18, 2009. The Panthers have played the No. 1 team in the country just once — when it lost to Illinois in the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament in 2005. The next-highest was Kansas at No. 2 back in 2004-05.
Notes
KU fans tossed 1,104 teddy bears onto the floor from the stands at halftime in a promotion to provide gifts for children for the holidays. … KU is 2-0 all-time vs. Milwaukee, also winning, 73-62 on Dec. 22, 2004, in Kemper Arena … KU has won 13 straight games against nonconference foes in Allen dating to the 2017-18 season (loss to Arizona State). KU is 127-5 vs. nonleague foes in Allen in the Self era. … KU has won 25 straight games in Allen Fieldhouse. … KU is 793-113 all-time in Allen, including 255-13 under Self. … Self is 481-107 at KU and 688-212 for his career … KU is 2,282-860 all-time. … Pat Baldwin, a former standout player at Leavenworth High, is 30-44 in three seasons at Milwaukee. … Milwaukee was picked to finish seventh in the conference in the Horizon League’s preseason poll. Wright State was first, followed by Northern Kentucky, UIC, Oakland, Green Bay and Youngstown State. Detroit Mercy was picked eighth, followed by IUPUI and Cleveland State.
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 9:11 PM.
