KU’s Nick Timberlake played better vs. Baylor, until disastrous final 30 seconds
Kansas guard Nick Timberlake had a game to remember — in both good and bad ways — vs. Baylor
Timberlake started in the place of an injured Kevin McCullar (knee) on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. He finished with eight points on 3-for-8 shooting and had two rebounds. But it’d be hard to call his day a complete success.
In fact, his play in the last 30 seconds was closer to a complete disaster.
Timberlake nearly single-handedly cost the No. 4 Jayhawks a three-point lead in the waning seconds of their 64-61 win over Baylor.
And apparently left a sour taste in the head coach’s mouth.
Asked about Timberlake’s performance after the game, KU coach Bill Self didn’t offer a complete thought — or any comment, really — on the transfer guard.
“I thought ... we won, so I’ll just leave it at that,” Self said. “So, we won.”
Why the frustration? It likely stemmed from the last 30 seconds in what was a one-possession game down the stretch.
Baylor had cut the deficit to three after the Jayhawks led by 11 with six minutes to play. But KU had the ball with the chance to score and put the game out of reach.
Timberlake attempted a pass inside and turned the ball over with 14.2 seconds to play. On the other end, Timberlake completely abandoned his man in the corner to help on a drive. That gave BU’s Jayden Nunn a wide-open 3-pointer, which missed.
Nunn entered the day shooting 41% from 3 after shooting 40.4% last year.
Timberlake looked like he might redeem himself for the mistakes when he collected the rebound on the missed 3 and was fouled. Instead, he missed the front end of a one-and-one. Baylor’s Ja’Kobe Walker collected the rebound with about two seconds left and missed a 3-pointer as the game ended.
In 30 seconds, Timberlake committed three potentially game-shifting errors as Kansas barely escaped with the win.
That, along with other KU mistakes down the stretch, may have led to Self’s frustration.
That said — Timberlake wasn’t all bad. In fact, he had one of his best offensive games in a month.
He had two big 3-pointers in a game the Jayhawks won by only three points and had a breakaway dunk after stealing the ball. He played his most minutes of the season (31) and had his second most points of conference play (12, West Virginia).
More importantly, if McCullar continues to miss games, it’s pivotal that Timberlake builds off his second half, when he scored all eight of his points. The Jayhawks need his scoring (and 3-point shooting) to complement the other starters, who include KJ Adams, Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris and Johnny Furphy.
As might be expected, Dickinson put a more positive slant on Timberlake’s performance than their coach.
“He came out aggressive,” Dickinson said. “We needed him to come out aggressive because we were obviously missing a lot with Kev’s scoring, rebounding and passing. He just came out there, he was really aggressive and tried to make an impact out there. So I think that was really huge for us.
“Defensively, he ran through that passing lane and that was huge for us to get that dunk. That was a big momentum shift for us to really extend the lead.”
Those plays — 3-point shots and a steal and score — represent what KU hopes it can get from Timberlake. The last 30 seconds will be some to forget.
