KU’s defense wasn’t the worst of its late-game execution vs St. John’s. This was
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas burned four fouls to give, two of them very quickly, costing seconds.
- Bill Self repeatedly instructed KU to make St. John's use clock during the sequence.
- Quick fouls and soft last-second defense helped enable St. John's buzzer layup.
Kansas senior Tre White wrapped his arms around St. John’s big man Zuby Ejiofor and looked toward the referee, waiting for the whistle for a foul.
On purpose.
From 45 feet away, KU coach Bill Self yelled in his direction.
“Tre!” Self shouted. “Make him take some time first!”
KU played soft last-second defense, allowing St. John’s to hit a buzzer-beating layup Sunday in the NCAA Tournament’s second round — guard Elmarko Jackson all but waved at point guard Dylan Darling as he drove by him. Jackson probably should’ve had some help, with Flory Bidunga and Darryn Peterson in the best spots to offer it.
Half an hour later, Jackson sat in the locker room, towel over his head and face, speaking in a virtual whisper. He expected a jump shot, not a layup, he said — but he still could’ve slid his feet in a better position.
But Kansas could’ve put itself in a better position, too.
How?
If they’d heeded Self’s instruction a little earlier — as in two whistles earlier.
After Kansas stormed back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game with 14.1 seconds remaining, it had a unique advantage in its subsequent defense. It had fouls to give. KU had committed just two in the half, leaving it with four freebies.
It was a good, even if obvious, idea to use them. The problem? The Jayhawks used them far too quickly. And they could’ve used them a little differently, too.
On the initial St. John’s inbounds, Kohl Rosario, a key figure of the comeback, and White had Darling trapped in the corner. But Rosario fouled him immediately, a play that took only 1.0 seconds off the clock. That was virtually useless.
Afterward, Self instructed the team, “Make them use some clock!”
But then came the White foul.
Immediately, again.
After Ejiofor collected the pass, he had nowhere to go with the ball, yet White raced over to foul him quickly — only 1.8 seconds off the clock.
Self repeated the instruction, and KU finally got the message, but they’d missed their best opportunity. Not only could they have forced St. John’s to use a more time, but they could’ve trapped and attempted to force a turnover — and they could’ve aggressively trapped without the fear of fouling.
They’d already cornered Darling on one play and then successfully got the ball in the hands of a post player 85 feet from the basket on the next. Those are two pretty good spots for a defense with fouls to give. But they turned those two situations into a combined 2.8 seconds off the clock. That’s a waste.
They burned all four fouls without making St. John’s sweat a turnover. And it’s not as though that’s far-fetched — KU turned the ball over five times on in-bounds plays.
“Use the clock — that’s what I was thinking,” Self explained afterward. “I wish that when Kohl fouled the first time — he fouled in one second — (but) I wish he could have just let him hold it and foul with five seconds into it. So now maybe there’s not 3.9 (left) — maybe there’s 2.0 or 1.5.”
It potentially could have been even less time, actually.
On their last two fouls to give, after Kansas players executed the intended strategy better, they forced St. John’s to use 4.5 seconds on the fifth foul and then 2.9 seconds before committing the sixth.
Even if you take the quicker of those two instances — the 2.9 seconds — and apply them to the initial two sequences when KU was in too much of a hurry, that’s a combined 5.8 seconds off the clock rather than 2.8 seconds — a difference of 3.0 seconds.
That would’ve left St. John’s just 0.9 seconds for its final play — a heave, perhaps, but not a layup.
That last-play defense wasn’t great — by multiple players. But it could’ve looked a lot different.
“Regardless of that, we gotta guard three or four bounces,” Self said, “and we didn’t do it.”
It would’ve been easier to guard just one bounce — or zero, even.