Kansas basketball won a dogfight yesterday against the Dayton Flyers to win the Maui Invitational. Here are three brief takeaways from the game.
What a great win Kansas basketball got last night to win the Maui Invitational. The Dayton Flyers played the Jayhawks extremely tough, as it took an overtime period for Kansas to get the win. After analyzing the Jayhawks’ hard-fought victory, here are three brief takeaways from the game.
1. Dayton will probably win their conference
Dayton looked phenomenal against Kansas. They shot the lights out, going 16-for-33 from behind the three-point line. Obi Toppin is a matchup nightmare, and he has a supporting cast that can get buckets too. So what does all that have to do with helping Kansas basketball?
The Flyers have to be a heavy favorite to win the Atlantic 10 Conference this season, which would give them an auto-bid in the NCAA tournament. This game will more than likely be a huge resume booster for Kansas come Selection Sunday, as the Jayhawks will look to get a one or two seed after receiving a four seed last season.
2. Kansas has to defend the three-point line better
As mentioned, Dayton shot 16-of-33 or 48.5% from behind the three-point line against Kansas. It’s been a recurring theme for a few years now, but the Jayhawks really struggle to run teams off of the three-point line.
It’s obvious that teams are going to shoot a lot of threes against Kansas, mostly because of the talent and depth the Jayhawks have in the frontcourt; however, Udoka Azubuike and the other bigs struggle to guard on the perimeter, and there were more than a few times yesterday that Dayton got wide-open looks, which cannot happen.
3. The Jayhawks are resilient
This game was like a heavyweight fight, and both teams were on the ropes more than once. The Jayhawks were able to respond though, and that’s why they came away with the win.
There was a point in the second half where Dayton went up eight on Kansas, and it looked like the Flyers might pull ahead and bury the Jayhawks. Yet, Kansas basketball kept its composure and came storming back. That kind of resiliency is going to become extremely valuable this season, especially when Kansas starts playing in March.
The win over Dayton was one that will hopefully propel this team to new heights this season. Time will tell, but this Kansas team seems like a real title contender.