Kansas basketball improved to 3-1 on the season with a 75-63 win over the East Tennessee State Buccaneers (ETSU) on Tuesday night.
In most cases, when a top-5 team struggles to defeat a mid-major conference opponent it usually means one of three things: One, the top-5 team played really poorly, two, the mid-major team played far better than their norm, or three, a combination of one and two.
And when that top-five team happens to be Kansas, fans on Twitter are ready to give up all hope on the season and Bill Self starts to toe the line on labeling his team with the “S word.”
But in tonight’s 12 point victory over East Tennessee State (ETSU), the narrative surrounding the no. 4 ranked Kansas basketball team isn’t centered around disappointment or worry, it’s centered around progression.
Anyone who even casually follows mid-major basketball knows that ETSU is a very good team.
They returned 80% of their scoring and 88% of their 3-point from a year ago. In addition, ETSU is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country. The Buccaneers are not only expected to win their conference, but they are expected to be a potential bracket buster in March as well. And in their matchup with the Jayhawks, they definitely lived up to the hype.
Kansas started the game getting basically everything they wanted on both ends of the floor. Led by Devon Dotson, Kansas was carving up ETSU’s defense by working the ball through the post to score high-percentage baskets.
Defensively, the Jayhawks were locked in. Kansas’ backcourt was relentless with their on-ball defense, forcing the Buccaneers to speed up their offense and to take contested outside shots.
That hot start led to 31-13 Jayhawk lead at the 7:40 mark.
At this point, most people watching the game expected it to be out of reach by halftime. But with ETSU being a veteran-led team, they responded with a massive run of their own.
On the backs of senior center Lucas N’Guessan and junior guard Bo Hodges, ETSU was able to trim the deficit to 45-36 by the first media timeout in the second half.
After that timeout, in a fashion reminiscent to their first game of the year versus Duke, the Jayhawks were missing wide-open shots from the outside and started turning the ball over seemingly every other possession.
At one point, Kansas basketball turned the ball over in seven of 12 possessions.
While a few of the turnovers were a product of careless passing and out of control ball-handling, much of the credit should go the Buccaneers defense; as they started making the Kansas guards uncomfortable by switching every dribble handoff and ball screen.
However, when the guards started to severely struggle, senior center Udoka Azubuike started to heat up.
Kansas began to spread the floor with shooters on the wings in an attempt to free up Azubuike one-on-one down low. And when the big man was able to catch it cleanly, it looked something like this:
SEE DOK DUNK 😤
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) November 20, 2019
He has nine points this half and 19 for the game — a season high!#KUbball leads ETSU 59-50 (🎥on Big 12 Now on ESPN+) pic.twitter.com/qvUWlMIFFz
For a span of about five minutes late in the second half, Azubuike’s dominance in the paint was the only thing Kansas had going for them offensively. If it wasn’t for his offense, this game could have come down to the very last possession.
He tallied 11 points in the second half and a season-high of 21 total points for the game.
But yet again, ETSU refused to roll over for the mighty Jayhawks. After making a trio of difficult three-pointers, it was only a five-point game at the 5:46 mark.
Bill Self quickly called a timeout.
Following the timeout, it was Silvio De Sousa who this time stepped up for his team.
He entered the game showcasing great energy on both ends of the floor. De Sousa blocked shots at the rim, played great defense on the perimeter, and made key shots in transition. For the first time this season he looked mature, confident, and explosive.
Kansas basketball was able to pull out a difficult win by a score of 75-63.
Azubuike led the way with 21 points and 7 rebounds, followed by Dotson with 19 points and 6 assists.
This wasn’t the prettiest of victories for Kansas basketball. They shot 1-11 from beyond the arc, turned the ball over 15 times, and narrowly blew an 18-point lead. Nevertheless, they will leave Allen Fieldhouse smiling as they finally proved that they can “win ugly” against a very good opponent.