KU basketball’s bench stepped up against K-State: ‘We don’t win without them’
Kansas reserve guard Joseph Yesufu didn’t think twice.
As he stood behind the arc, Yesufu received a pass from backup point guard Bobby Pettiford Jr. and without hesitation shot the three-pointer.
The ball hit nothing but net, putting the Jayhawks up by nine against K-State midway through the first half at Allen Fieldhouse. In the process, Yesufu ended a three-game scoreless streak.
Though the bench guard would finish with five points and shoot 1-for-7, that made shot was a welcome — and significant — sight for Jayhawk fans.
All season long, KU’s bench issues have been a cause for concern for Kansas coach Bill Self ... until Tuesday.
KU’s reserves scored 19 points compared to K-State’s nine in the Jayhawks’ 90-78 victory at Allen Fieldhouse.
“It might not seem like much, but the foul trouble we played through with Gradey (Dick), Kevin (McCullar) and KJ (Adams), if our bench wasn’t good, we don’t win tonight,” Self said postgame. “So that was a good thing to see.”
Pettiford led the bench in scoring with six points on 3-for-4 shooting. Stretch big Zach Clemence hit a three and finished with five points, while freshman big man Ernest Udeh added three.
Before Tuesday, Kansas’ bench had only outscored one conference opponent, Texas Tech. KU had nine reserve points compared to the Red Raiders’ eight in that game.
In Self’s rotation, seven players average double-digit minutes. Usually, that accounts for the starting lineup of Dajuan Harris, McCullar, Dick, Jalen Wilson and Adams, then Pettiford and Yesufu off the bench.
The eighth spot is the highly contested backup big role behind Adams. Self will deploy any one of Clemence, Zuby Ejiofor or Udeh, depending on the game. Ejiofor missed Tuesday’s matchup with a foot injury.
Still, Self doesn’t play KU’s reserves big minutes. Kansas ranks 345th in bench minutes percentage (22.1%), according to KenPom. But those bench spots were key in the last meeting with K-State, as three Jayhawk starters (Dick, McCullar and Adams) fouled out.
That led to an 83-82 overtime loss against K-State. The Jayhawks didn’t even get a shot off on their final possession.
This time around, the Jayhawks’ bench helped KU separate itself early. First, it started with the Yesufu three, which put Kansas up nine.
A bit later, Pettiford hit a layup to give KU an eight-point lead (24-16) with 10:28 left in the first half.
On Kansas’ next possession, Dick canned a three.
Then K-State guard Markquis Nowell drove the ball and tried to pass, but Udeh got a hand on it and deflected it upward. Yesufu jumped in the air, tapped the ball and saved it from going out of bounds.
Wilson ended up with the ball and rumbled up the court. Later in the possession, Pettiford eventually passed it back to Wilson, who stood beyond the arc.
Wilson canned the three, which put Kansas up 11 points (30-19) with 9:20 left in the half. K-State called timeout.
In the span of 2:20 of game time, KU’s reserves played a pivotal part in an 11-6 run.
“If they come in big for us, they help the starters out way more and give us more rest,” Harris said. “That’s what they did today.”
Though it’s only one game, Kansas’ bench made a difference on Tuesday — and could do so moving forward. A consistent reserve group provides KU’s starters rest and allows Self to try different lineup combinations depending on the game situation.
“I think when our bench plays with the confidence they did today, it kind of just makes us better all-around — offense, defense and pushing the ball in transition,” Wilson said. “Regardless of what they said about 38 (points, the total Wilson scored in the last meeting with K-State), I don’t have to score that to win.
“We have a deep team and competent team. We play like we did today, for the most part, there’s not really any team that can stay with us.”
