What Bill Self, KU basketball players said about 3-point defense after ISU loss
A 1-3 road record — and steady stream of court stormings by opposing fans to start the Big 12 Conference season — happen to be the harsh reality facing Kansas basketball.
“We’ve got to do a better job guarding the 3-point line. You saw that at West Virginia as well. That’s two losses chalked up to us not guarding the 3-point line,” KU senior forward Hunter Dickinson said after the Jayhawks’ 79-75 loss to Iowa State on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum.
A week, ago West Virginia knocked down 12 3s in 21 tries in a 91-85 win over KU in Morgantown.
On Saturday, ISU drilled 14 3s in 30 tries to KU’s 7-of-20 as the No. 7-ranked Jayhawks fell to 16-4 overall and 4-3 in the league; No. 23 ISU is 16-4, 5-2.
“A lot,” KU coach Bill Self said, asked about the number of 3s made by ISU. “It was partly scouting report. We decided to put Hunter on King and dare him to shoot. He made four.”
Tre King, who entered the season 3-of-16 from 3, scored 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting for the Cyclones. He was 4-of-7 from 3 and also grabbed nine rebounds.
“When you have a team (that typically) makes four 3s a game make 14 it definitely makes it more challenging,” Dickinson said. “Obviously when they are at home they are going to shoot a little better than normal, but when they go 14-of-30 from 3 it makes it hard to stage a comeback especially in the second half down 12 on the road.”
KU did slice a 12-point second-half deficit to two points late, but ISU closed well before 14,267 fans who stormed the court after the final buzzer.
“It’s pretty hard to come back when they are shooting that well and get stops when they are shooting that well,” said KU freshman guard Johnny Furphy. He scored 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting (3-of-5 from 3). Dickinson had 20 points on 9-of-18 shooting and 15 rebounds. He was 1-of-5 from 3.
“I think we were getting caught not guarding the 3-point line. Late in the shot clock, getting down on defense, we’ve got to be able to step up a bit more and have more awareness,” Furphy added.
Self noted: “I don’t know how many they made late clock,” referring to the 3s. “I was actually encouraged. That’s the best offense we’ve run in a while. Seventy five in their building should be enough.”
The game featured a first-half technical foul on Self
KU led 26-25 late in the first half when Tamin Lipsey (10 points, eight assists) was clipped in the head by Parker Braun, who fouled Lipsey on a breakaway. It was ruled a flagrant foul, thus Lipsey hit 1 of 2 technical foul shots and 1 of 2 more on the foul on the layup. ISU was awarded the basketball and on the ensuing possession, Milan Momcilovic hit a 3.
So ISU, on the five-point possession, took a 30-26 lead into the break.
“I wish I wouldn’t have got the technical. It cost us one point. They got the ball back anyway,” Self said. “I haven’t seen it. It may have been a good call. I know it wasn’t anything malicious. Certainly it was a four-point play. They made 1-of-2 on the tech and got the ball back and made a 3 at the end.”
ISU had four players score in double-figures: King (21), Keshon Gilbert (16), Curtis Jones (15), Lipsey (10). KU also had four in double-figures: Dickinson (20), Kevin McCullar (16 on 5-of-18 shooting), Furphy (15) and KJ Adams (13).
KU will meet Oklahoma State at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Not be discouraged by the loss, because it’s a tough place to play,” Dickinson said of the postgame message. “Also, it’s going to get tough down the stretch if we keep dropping games like this. The winner of the league will probably have five losses. This gives us two more potentially. We’ve got to go on a run and string some wins together.”
