How Kansas Jayhawks freshman Zuby Ejiofor made most of opportunity against Indiana
.JPG "Kansas forward Zuby Ejiofor throws down a dunk in front of Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis during Saturday’s game at Allen Fieldhouse.")
Freshman forward Zuby Ejiofor has sat patiently on the Jayhawks’ bench, awaiting his moment.
On Saturday, it finally arrived.
With 11 minutes, 51 seconds left in the first half, Ejiofor entered the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Allen Fieldhouse as KU’s first big off the bench.
His matchup?
Oh, just All-American forward Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Shortly after taking the court, Ejiofor hesitantly went for a layup ... which the senior Jackson-Davis promptly swatted away. It was a subliminal welcome-to-college basketball moment for Ejiofor.
Despite that initial block by Jackson-Davis, Ejiofor made the most of his minutes in the Jayhawks’ dominant 84-62 victory over the Hoosiers at Allen Fieldhouse. The forward had a career-high eight points while shooting 4-for-5 from the floor, grabbing two rebounds and blocking one shot in a season-high 12 minutes.
“Zuby was great,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “He did a good job on Trayce in the time he guarded him. He played big. (He) set good screens and played to his athletic ability.”
Until this game, Ejiofor hadn’t played more than 10 minutes in any game. He was the only KU big on Saturday to play double-digit minutes off the bench.
“I think that definitely getting the chance to guard a first-team All-American definitely inspires you to be turned up, but the bottom line is he hadn’t had the chance to play,” Self said. “Ernest (Udeh) has played some extended minutes and that kind of stuff. Zuby hadn’t had a chance and we saw today, I think, what he is capable of.”
On the offensive end, Ejiofor thrived in the pick-and-roll. At one point, he set a screen for teammate Dajuan Harris; Harris then threaded a pass back between two defenders, and Ejiofor rumbled into the lane for an easy dunk.
And defensively, Ejiofor didn’t let IU’s bigs get comfortable in the post. He limited their quality looks and helped contribute to Jackson-Davis’ relatively quiet showing.
Jackson-Davis finished with 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the floor but didn’t score his first basket until 1:55 left in the first half.
On Thursday, Self told the media he wanted one of his three young bigs — Ejiofor, Udeh or Zach Clemence — to separate himself and earn the 15-20 minutes available per game off the bench.
On Saturday, Ejiofor built some positive momentum toward earning that role.
“We will see how practice goes and stuff, but I thought Zuby was great today,” Self said. “I thought he played to his length. … It doesn’t show up in the stats, but there were a couple of fouls that were called down low and Zuby blocked shots out of bounds and stuff like that.
“I mean, he’s an athlete. I thought his hands looked good and he didn’t fumble balls. … I thought he was really good.”
Ejiofor’s performance Saturday enabled fans to see what his teammates have been witnessing in practice.
“He’s doing great,” Kansas forward Kevin McCullar Jr. said. “That’s what he came in here to do. We believe in him and we see him getting better every day. That was a big game for him to play against a guy like Trayce, and he did excellent. So, I’m proud of him.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2022 at 4:47 PM.
