Moss scores 17 points off the bench as Jayhawks down Haase’s Stanford Cardinal
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self didn’t seek out sharpshooter Isaiah Moss to offer any special words of wisdom after the graduate transfer’s 0-for 5 scoreless performance in a one-point loss at Villanova on Dec. 21.
“Not really. Just tell him, ‘Keep shooting,’’’ Self said after the former University of Iowa guard hit four threes in seven tries, good for a team-leading 17 points in KU’s 72-56 victory over Stanford Sunday at Maples Pavilion.
Moss — he had made 8 of 10 threes in wins over Chaminade and Monmouth and 8 of 31 against everybody else entering Sunday’s contest — drilled a three right before the halftime buzzer to give the No. 5-ranked Jayhawks a 28-18 lead.
He downed three straight threes in the first five minutes of the final half to help Kansas open a 42-24 advantage over former KU guard Jerod Haase’s Cardinal (11-2).
“If he doesn’t stretch it, we can look pretty inept at times,” Self said after a game in which KU (10-2) committed 21 turnovers to Stanford’s 19. “We were giving it right to them,” Self lamented of a first-half in which KU had 14 turnovers to Stanford’s 10.
Anyhow … back to Moss. His flurry of threes, as well as three from freshman Christian Braun (two in the second half), helped salvage an offensive performance that included a combined two points on 1-of-3 shooting by KU big men Udoka Azubuike (27 minutes) and David McCormack (11).
“Having the bench guys make seven threes … that is something we welcome,” Self said.
Moss actually missed badly on his first two tries, finally connecting off a pass from Tristan Enaruna right before halftime. Moss had scored eight points in the first half as KU led 28-18 after 20 minutes. Defense was the name of KU’s game as Stanford, which missed its first 14 shots, at one point trailed 20-4.
“It’s been a while,” Moss said of his three-point success; he had made six of his last 23 attempts from long distance entering the game. “It was nice to knock down shots. My teammates got me the ball. I was a little more relaxed, not thinking about it much, (just) let it go.”
Asked whether Self had sought him out after the Nova game or after he returned from his native Chicago Wednesday following a four-day Christmas break, Moss said: “Coach always challenges me. It’s up to me to stay focused, believe in myself and keep playing as I can. It felt good, especially knocking them down.”
Stanford coach Haase had his Cardinal double- and triple-team KU’s inside players. Azubuike was 0 for 5 from the line, dipping his free-throw percentage to 31.8% this season. Afterward, Haase conceded that Moss and Braun (nine points on 3-of-4 three-point shooting, 19 minutes) were big factors.
“Fantastic,” Haase said of Moss. “But 7 of 11 off the bench from three … that was certainly a difference-maker as the game opened up a bit.”
Stanford, led by Oscar da Silva’s 19 points, hit 5 of 23 shots the first half. For the game, Stanford made 38% of its shots, going 6 of 20 from three-point range. KU hit 46.6% and was 9 of 22 from three-point range.
Of holding down KU’s bigs to basically zero productivity (Azubuike did have 13 rebounds), da Silva said: “Part of the game plan was keep he and McCormack out of the game. The key was being physical down there. It required a large amount of energy. We tried to push him (Azubuike) out. We gave up too many offensive rebounds to him (seven).”
Self was not upset at 7-footer Azubuike.
“Doke stat-wise didn’t have a great game, but that’s one of the better games he’s played. He didn’t handle the trap worth a flip, (but) he rebounded. He protected the rim,” Self said, taking exception to the stat sheet that credited Doke with no blocks.
“He had a couple the first half, at least,” Self said.
KU survived an off-night from point guard Devon Dotson, who had 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting (0 of 4 from three-point range). He had just two points in the first half on 1-of-7 shooting.
“Dot was off. I thought Marcus Garrett was pretty good and Och (Agbaji) was pretty good,” Self said.
Garrett, who said his sprained left ankle suffered in the Villanova game bothered him early in Sunday’s contest and would be “sore” Monday, finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes.
Agbaji had 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting. He scored seven points in the first half.
Self gave an assist to the fans. KU-backers comprised at least half of the crowd of 6,582 in the 7,233-seat arena on Stanford’s campus.
“I’m sure other programs have it. I don’t know anybody travels everywhere better than what we do,” Self said.
Sunday’s game concludes a four-game, four-year series between Stanford and Haase’s alma mater. Stanford lost all four games, taking KU to overtime in Lawrence last season.
There are no plans right now to renew the KU-Stanford series.
“I have a lot of positive memories of Kansas, (but I’m) locked into Stanford and what we’re doing,” Haase said. “It’s good to play a national brand in Kansas. We are building a foundation here. We will be a national brand moving forward as well.”
Said Self: “I am excited. Now we’re getting on the bus. I’ll tell the bus driver to give us a tour of campus because we’ve never seen (this) campus before. Last year Stanford should have beat us at our place. We got lucky. I don’t know how Jerod feels about how it was for them. It was a good series for us.”
Game notes ...
Game time for Saturday’s KU-West Virginia game has been set for 3 p.m., at Allen Fieldhouse. ... fans in the north end of Maples Pavilion displayed a “Beware of the Phog” banner at the half. … Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State and currently a faculty member at Stanford, met with the refs and a couple players from both teams before the game at halfcourt. … KU leads the all-time series over Stanford, 12-3. The Jayhawks have won four in a row over the Cardinal. … KU, which, fell to Villanova on Dec. 21, avoided losing consecutive games for the first time since last January when KU fell at Kentucky and Texas. KU last lost consecutive nonconference games during the 2017-18 season — against Washington and Arizona State (December of 2017). … KU is 95-13 following a loss in the Bill Self era. KU is 44-5 after losses the past six seasons. … Self is 483-108 while at Kansas, 690-213 for his head coaching career. … Kansas is 2,284-861 all-time. … KU snapped Stanford’s four-game winning streak. … Stanford is 1-1 vs. the Big 12 this season, beating Oklahoma, 73-54, at the Sprint Center. … Stanford was picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 preseason poll; KU first in the Big 12 poll.
This story was originally published December 29, 2019 at 4:14 PM.
