Ernest Udeh showed growth in KU basketball’s win vs. Seton Hall. Here’s what comes next
Kansas freshman Ernest Udeh has the utmost confidence in his abilities, so he’s seldom surprised by his play on the court.
So naturally, the center was relatively calm postgame after he played a notable role in Kansas’ 91-65 blowout victory over Seton Hall. Udeh finished with a season-high 10 points while shooting 4-for-4 from the floor and grabbing two rebounds and one steal in 12 minutes. He also went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.
“I can’t speak for everyone else out there in the world, but me personally, I know when I get in the gym and I work on certain things, I feel comfortable getting out on the court,” Udeh said. “When you put in the work, you feel like, ‘All right, you’re supposed to be in this position,’ and you believe that you can do certain stuff.
“Tonight, I went two-for-two from the free-throw line. I’m always practicing my free throws, so when I get out there and I make them, I’m not surprised. I have confidence that I am going to go over there and knock them down.”
Earlier this season, Kansas coach Bill Self challenged KU’s young bigs to step up their game.
“I don’t want to play small,” Self said after KU’s Battle 4 Atlantis title-game loss to Tennessee. “I want one of those young freshmen to come through, so we don’t have to play small. And hopefully they will.”
Udeh appears to have taken those words to heart.
“I feel like, first things first, (it’s) always: ... How can I help the team get a win? How can I make the team better?” Udeh said. “All the personal stuff will just come after. (I’m) listening to coach when he tells me I need to screen a specific guy, go after every rebound. And just everything personal, individual for me will come after.”
Udeh was effective in the pick-and-roll throughout the game. In the process, the 6-foot-11 big man showed off his athletic prowess.
At the 14:36 mark in the first half, Udeh set a screen for Kansas wing Jalen Wilson, who dished the ball to guard Dajuan Harris. Udeh quickly rolled to the basket, received a pass from Harris and slammed it home to put the Jayhawks up 11-8.
“Coach has been putting an emphasis on the bigs to be better screeners,” Udeh said. “I feel like tonight I was able to do that. ... First play (off a) screen, the ball got reversed and I was by myself wide open in the paint. I feel like that’s probably the biggest thing tonight, just the screening and rolling and knowing where I am position-wise.”
Self credited Udeh and forward KJ Adams for stepping up offensively.
“You had two guys score that haven’t been scoring much and that would be KJ and certainly Ernest,” Self said. “Those guys combined for 21 points in basically the first 36 minutes, which is pretty good. If we can get anything close to that, that’d be fantastic.”
As the season progresses, Self has high hopes for his young big men.
“They can become better screeners, better rim-runners after they set a screen,” Self said, “and certainly better ball-screen defenders and better paint protectors. And that’s what I would say: Just focus on those four things and they could be really good players. And they will. Right now, I feel like we are closer than we were, but we’ve still got a ways to go on that.”
This story was originally published December 2, 2022 at 1:20 AM with the headline "Ernest Udeh showed growth in KU basketball’s win vs. Seton Hall. Here’s what comes next."
