How the Kansas Jayhawks avoided a potential NCAA Tournament nightmare, with no sweat
There was a moment when Tanner Groves scored another bucket and Eastern Washington extended its lead over Kansas, and before we go any further we need to stress that Tanner Groves is awesome and we mean the following sentence with total respect.
But it’s just that the man looks like he works at a store that sells flannels and incense, and when you see a basketball player flex a bicep, you usually see some muscle definition on said bicep.
That was one of many moments that lit KU fan text threads on fire. But on the court, if you watched carefully, even down 10 in the second half, the players did not give off any of the uh-oh-it’s-happening-again energy we’ve seen from Jayhawks in past NCAA Tournaments.
As much as anything else, that’s why No. 3 seed KU flipped some scary moments into a 93-84 win over No. 14 Eastern Washington in the round of 64 on Saturday in Indianapolis.
“I think the staff was probably more panicked than the players were,” KU coach Bill Self. “But, you know, these guys play at Kansas. They play a lot of big games. We’ve been behind a lot. We’ve been ahead a lot. We know it’s a long game.”
That’s all true, of course, but we’ve all seen KU players with fabulous pedigrees and more experience than these panic when tournament games tighten.
For his part, when asked why this group stayed calm and confident, senior Marcus Garrett had a simple response: “Coach Self.”
These are all oversimplifications, of course. KU had plenty of reasons to stay confident that other teams haven’t.
Eastern Washington is a fun bunch to watch. They are connected, they’re interchangeable, they move the ball quickly. They are also incapable of guarding KU’s athletes, especially David McCormack, on the block.
McCormack is another logical source of that confidence. More than anyone else he has defined this Kansas men’s basketball team — struggled early, transformed in the middle, and been a consistent problem for opponents down the stretch.
McCormack spent 10 days in isolation after a positive COVID-19 test. His symptoms were said to be mild at most, but that’s a long time without being able to work out or play. He wore a heart monitor and participated in about 70% of Friday’s practice, and KU’s medical staff thought he’d be good for 15 minutes, 20 tops.
So of course, McCormack played 25 — higher than his season average — and went for 22 points and nine rebounds. Without him, KU was almost certainly beat. With him, they scored 55 points with just one turnover in the second half.
As Self pointed out, timeouts are often and long in NCAA Tournament games, which helps. But still. This was a boss performance.
“Definitely incredible,” Garrett said. “Knowing that he hadn’t practiced or done anything in the last 10 or 11 days, and for him to come out and just be so productive on the offensive end was definitely great to see.”
McCormack deserves every bit of praise coming his way this season, and after this game. Even without severe symptoms, there is simply no way to come out of a 10-day isolation in a room without losing strength and endurance. McCormack admitted to being rusty in the first half.
Self noted that McCormack didn’t move as well as he usually does, particularly on defense, but at least some of that was Eastern Washington presenting one of the worst matchups for McCormack and KU — big guys who can shoot.
But McCormack shifted the way this game was played. It’s hard not to see some of this as a microcosm of KU’s entire season. KU trailed by eight at half, and the popular analysis was that Self would have to bench McCormack and go small to match up.
Instead, McCormack scored 20 of his points and played 15 minutes after halftime. He couldn’t close out effectively on Groves behind the three-point line, but he also presented a problem without a solution for Eastern Washington.
The Eagles doubled him on nearly every touch, and took away McCormack’s moves to his left shoulder. But if Eastern Washington knew it could get a good look on most possessions, it also knew McCormack was getting whatever he wanted on most touches.
“Considering all the time off, I thought he looked very patient offensively,” Self said.
This is not the blueprint for KU. The Jayhawks win on defense. Before Saturday, in fact, they were 20-0 when allowing 72 points or fewer, and 0-8 when allowing more.
So the performance against Eastern Washington will get KU beat in this tournament, and probably beat badly.
But there is something relevant to take from all of this. Because this is a team that has a smaller margin for error than some, and had finally cultivated the best version of itself when the whole thing was disrupted by COVID-19.
That had a chance to wreck KU’s NCAA Tournament, and it still might in the round of 32. But what we saw on Saturday is that the Jayhawks are playing with free minds, are better at adapting than they’re often given credit for, and any loss in this tournament won’t come from panic.
This story was originally published March 20, 2021 at 4:49 PM.