Kansas basketball blasts Oklahoma State ... even without a key starter in the lineup
Early in the first half against Oklahoma State, Kansas coach Bill Self stood up and looked directly at freshman guard Elmarko Jackson.
The freshman, starting in the place of KU star Kevin McCullar, was playing aggressively but a little out of control.
Naturally, Self mouthed to him to calm down. And he did, en route to one of his best games in a Kansas uniform ... and a big KU victory.
No. 8 Kansas blew out Oklahoma State 83-54 on Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks led by as many as 31 on Tuesday. KU went into the half with a 44-26 lead and didn’t look back.
Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams both scored 16 points as KU (17-4, 5-3 Big 12) bounced back from a loss at Iowa State and swept the season series against OSU.
Up next: Kansas will host No. 4 Houston on Saturday.
Until then, here are some takeaways from Tuesday’s game
Elmarko Jackson plays freely
Heading into the season, the expectations for Jackson were sky-high. He was even projected as a potential lottery pick in several mock drafts.
Well, it’s clear he is still adjusting to the college game. Jackson has looked tentative and invisible at times. Self even mentioned that he was overthinking things earlier this year.
Against OSU, Jackson was anything but tentative. He didn’t hesitate to take and cash two 3-pointers in the first half and aggressively looked for his shot.
Jackson looked like he was playing without overthinking, and it led to a nice stat line in the first half. He had eight points on 3-for-5 shooting at the break.
He finished the game with 10 points and two rebounds. He played 26 minutes, his most this year in conference play, and scored in double-figures for the first time since Dec. 30 vs. Wichita State (12 points).
Self called Jackson’s performance “a good step” postgame.
“I thought offensively, he was good,” Self said. “Defensively, I would say there’s some things to improve upon. ... I’ll be honest with you, its easy to get comfortable when you make a couple shots early and everything. And then all of sudden you feel like there’s not pressure to make the next one. It was good to see him (play well). He’s a good player and he just hasn’t played probably the way he thought he would so far.”
KU’s defense stifles OSU
For much of the game, Oklahoma State’s strategy seemed to be to take 3-pointers and pray.
The reason: Kansas did an excellent job of walling off the paint and making OSU resort to long-range shots.
It didn’t exactly lead to the best results.
Oklahoma State had 26 points in the first half after shooting an abysmal 8-for-28 (28.6%) from the field. One game after the Jayhawks struggled mightily to defend the arc, OSU shot 8-for-29 (27.6%) from 3, though the Cowboys did hit 5 of 14 (35.7%) in the first half.
Kansas finished the game with an 30-point advantage in the paint (44-14). The defense was stifling and a major reason why.
Dajuan Harris lives up to his words
It’s no secret that Kansas point guard Dajuan Harris hasn’t had the best start to the season.
He even admitted it at a press conference on Monday.
“The best is still yet to come. I’m ready for the best to come. I’ve got to continue to be ready to play my game and be ready to step up for my teammates,” Harris added.
Well, he was undoubtedly at — or near — his best against the Cowboys.
Perhaps sensing McCullar’s absence, Harris played with aggression and decisiveness. He scored seven points within the first 10 minutes of the game — he’s averaging 7.2 points on the season.
He finished with 12 points and seven assists. He also helped lead KU’s offense to shoot a blistering 34-for-59 (57.6%).
Self just wants Harris to play his game.
“We want him to shoot the ball — I think he was more aggressive,” Self said. “The thing about it is, and I told Juan this, he needs to quit listening to me and he needs to quit listening to everybody else on (what) everybody else thinks he should be doing to play well. It’s ridiculous, including me.
“You know, all he’s done is won a high school state championship, Peach Jam championship and won a national championship. He wins every pickup game. I told him, ‘Just play and trust your instincts. Quit trying to play — if you are — because other people say you need to do this or that.’”
With Harris leading the way, all five KU starters (Jackson, Harris, Dickinson, Johnny Furphy and KJ Adams) hit double-digit points for the second time this season — the first time was also against OSU.
It was the type of performance that KU has been looking for.
This story was originally published January 30, 2024 at 10:12 PM.
