KU’s Joseph Yesufu brought a spark last game. Can he do it again? Kansas-OU breakdown
After a win against Texas on Monday, the Kansas men’s basketball team will look to complete a season sweep vs. conference foe Oklahoma on Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center.
The two teams met in January, with the Jayhawks winning 79-75 over the Sooners in Allen Fieldhouse.
OU is coming off an 82-72 loss against Baylor on Wednesday. The Sooners have lost six straight conference games.
The Sooners have a high-powered offense that controls the tempo, led by a sharpshooting guard.
Below is a scouting report and prediction of the game.
Saturday’s game: No. 9 Kansas vs. Oklahoma
When/where: 12 p.m. CT, Lloyd Noble Center
TV/Streaming: CBS
Opponent’s record: 12-12, 2-9 Big 12
KenPom (Ken Pomeroy) Ranking: 54
All statistics are from KenPom.com, Hoop-Math.com and EvanMiya. KenPom stats only include Division I competition.
Oklahoma Team Strengths
Good offense: Oklahoma ranks 53rd in adjusted offensive efficiency (112.3). Adjusted offensive efficiency is the number of points a team scores per 100 possessions, adjusted for the opponent. The Sooners also rank 41st in the nation in effective field goal percentage (53.6).
Elite against the long ball: OU ranks 22nd in opposing team three-point percentage.
Prefer twos over threes: The Sooners do a good job of scoring inside the arc. They rank 48th in two-point percentage (53.9). Two-pointers make up 54.3% of their total points, ranking 76th in the nation.
Oklahoma Team Weaknesses
Turnover struggles: OU ranks 269th in turnover percentage (19.7). The Sooners average 13.1 turnovers per game.
Little trust in the bench: Oklahoma coach Porter Moser doesn’t play many players in his rotation. The Sooners rank 211th in bench percentage minutes (30%).
Don’t crash the glass: Oklahoma doesn’t get many second-chance opportunities. The Sooners rank 326th in offensive rebounding percentage (23.2).
Oklahoma Name to Know
6-foot-2 senior guard Grant Sherfield (No. 25)
+ Great shooter (43.1% FG from three)
+ Quality facilitator (3.4 assists per game)
+ Good free throw shooter (85.5%)
- Not a great finisher at the rim (56.5%)
- Turnover prone (2.2 turnovers per game)
Tale of the Tape
Oklahoma loves to feed its bigs — especially starting center Tanner Groves — in the paint. Here, OU guard Joe Bamisle drove into the paint, drew two Baylor defenders and wisely dumped off the ball to Groves. Groves completed an uncontested dunk.
If the Jayhawks over-help on OU drives, Groves will be in position for dump-offs or easy baskets. Groves shoots 70.5% at the rim, so Kansas must limit his touches and not let him post up deep in the paint.
OU is one of the slower teams in the nation, but the Sooners can punish teams when given transition opportunities, shooting 38.2% on three-pointers.
Here, Sherfield pushed the pace while forward Jacob Groves quickly followed. Sherfield passed the ball to the trailing Groves, who canned the three. KU has to emphasize keeping track of players in transition —especially OU shooters. Otherwise, the Sooners can seize the momentum with three-point shooting and bog the game down on the other end.
Game Prediction
After a big win against Texas on Monday, Kansas is tied with three other teams (K-State, Baylor and Iowa State) in the conference for second place. Texas (19-5, 8-3 Big 12) currently sits in first.
The Jayhawks haven’t won consecutive conference games since they played OU and Iowa State in early January.
OU’s offense thrives by playing at a slow, controlled pace. Oklahoma ranks 247th in adjusted tempo (64.8). The Sooners will use most of the shot clock, with 18.1 seconds being their average possession length.
The way KU combats that? By forcing turnovers. Oklahoma ranks 221st in turnovers per game (13.1). So, Kansas needs to play with high energy, jump into passing lanes and not give the Sooners much breathing room.
On the flip side, the Jayhawks can’t just be trigger-happy from beyond the arc against OU; that feeds right into the Sooners’ game plan. Opposing teams only shoot 30% from three-point land vs. Oklahoma, though that mark goes up to 37.4% in transition, when those shots can be a little more open.
Simply put, Kansas has to be selective and take smart shots.
I think on both ends, Kansas is the better team. As long as the Jayhawks don’t start with stagnant energy, I like KU in this one by a comfortable margin.
Kansas 76, Oklahoma 63
Shreyas’ pick to cover the spread: Kansas (-2)
Shreyas’ season record: 9-7
Shreyas’ record against the spread: 8-8
KU Player to Watch: Joseph Yesufu
Bench guard Joseph Yesufu comes into Norman off a KU career game against the Longhorns. Yesufu scored 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the floor and grabbed five rebounds in 19 minutes on Monday.
The Jayhawks have lacked consistent bench scoring all season, but KU coach Bill Self believes Yesufu could alleviate those concerns.
If Yesufu comes out with confidence, doesn’t hesitate in shooting and plays mistake-free, it will go a long way toward the Jayhawks winning on Saturday.
Not to mention, it’ll earn Yesufu more trust from Self and potentially even more minutes.
