KU basketball’s final play broke down. Here’s why ... and what went wrong with the bench
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self had no choice.
Star KU freshman Gradey Dick had committed his fifth and final foul with 1:31 left in overtime on Tuesday at Bramlage Coliseum.
Dick sauntered over to the bench and joined fellow starters KJ Adams and Kevin McCullar, who had also fouled out.
As K-State forward Keyontae Johnson sank both free throws to tie the score at 80-all, Kansas’ lineup at game point looked bizarre:
The lineup featured point guards Dajuan Harris and Bobby Pettiford, combo guard Joseph Yesufu, forward Jalen Wilson and center Zach Clemence.
The trio of Pettiford, Yesufu and Clemence has averaged 15.7, 12.4 and 5.7 minutes per game, respectively, this year.
Self hasn’t trusted his bench all season long. Often, KU plays only seven or eight players in its rotation. When bench players play, it’s usually for dire situations ... or in garbage time. Kansas ranks 343rd in the country in bench minutes percentage (22.7%), per KenPom.
On Tuesday, it finally caught up with the Jayhawks.
The trio struggled in the clutch moments in Kansas’ 83-82 overtime loss to K-State at Bramlage Coliseum.
They combined for only seven points while shooting 3-for-7 from the floor.
On the game’s final play, KU had the ball down one (83-82) with 11 seconds left. Coming off a timeout, Pettiford inbounded the ball to Harris. Harris then drove, but the Wildcats collapsed onto him and the KU guard lost the ball. Harris dove on the floor to try to regain possession, but Ismael Massoud came away with the ball as the clock expired.
“We talked about what exactly to do,” Self said of the final play. “Bobby’s never thrown it in side-out (meaning in a sideline-out-of-bounds setting). When we called timeout with (11 seconds) left in overtime, we didn’t get the ball to the guy we wanted to.
“Then at the end we tried to run some fake stuff just to throw the ball to J-Will on the block, and I thought he was open. Bobby makes the safe play and throws it to ‘Juan. But he’s never been in that situation before. I really don’t know what you can say at game point like that to three guys that hadn’t been out there before. I mean, they’ve just got to play. We practice stuff, but they haven’t been out there in those situations before.”
The lack of experience wasn’t the only issue, though. KU’s most viable scoring option behind Wilson — and possibly the next two — sat on the bench.
Everyone in the arena knew the primary option would be Wilson for the final shot, and the Wildcats wisely put extra attention on him. The minute Harris received the ball and began to drive, it was a win for K-State.
The other options didn’t inspire much confidence. Earlier in regulation, with 1:21 left in a tie game, Clemence received a pass in the post and went up for the bucket. K-State guard Markquis Nowell stole the ball and converted the other way.
Perhaps one plausible option would’ve been Yesufu. As Harris drove, Yesufu was open in the corner. Still, putting the ball in a player’s hands who averages 3.8 points per game is a tall order.
Despite a tough loss, Wilson didn’t make any excuses.
“It’s very difficult seeing guys getting fouled out like that,” Wilson said. “No matter who’s out there, we’ve got to find a way to come out with a win and have success.”
