This year’s crop of Kansas basketball players have only played two games together as a team thus far and both have resulted in wins.
The Kansas Jayhawks’ second win came against the Bahamian national team 92-87, which featured a familiar foe in former Oklahoma Sooner Buddy Hield.
In 2016, Hield had one of the greatest performances ever by an opponent in Allen Fieldhouse history as he scored 46 points in a triple-overtime game that was eventually won by KU.
This time around, Hield put up just 18 points against the Jayhawks – though he only played in the first half of yesterday’s game. The remainder of the Bahamas squad, which was full of current and former college players, pushed the Jayhawks all the way through the fourth quarter.
The Jayhawks were led by their prized offseason acquisition Hunter Dickinson. The big man scored a team-high 28 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists – giving Kansas fans a glimpse of just how dominant he can be.
Dickinson flashed some impressive passing ability in the game, which is going to be key for him as he faces double teams this upcoming season. It will also be key for KU to knock down the open shots they are given from those double teams.
that ball movement tho 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/rHcwvfLRQx
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) August 5, 2023
KJ Adams had another impressive performance after chipping in 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Kevin McCullar had a similar stat line of 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Freshman Elmarko Jackson gave a good offensive performance before fouling out later in the contest. He finished with 12 points, 2 rebounds, and one assist.
The final box score can be found here.
“I thought that there were some really good things individually,” said Kansas head coach Bill Self following the game. “Hunter and KJ passing to each other was great, but Kevin has emerged as our best all-around player. He did a great job on Buddy and competed hard.”
Kansas basketball has now won 35 straight exhibition games following yesterday’s win, but they’ll face perhaps their toughest test on Monday in a rematch against the Bahamian national team, which is expected to add the talents of NBA players Deandre Ayton, Eric Gordon and Kai Jones.
Tip-off begins at 11 a.m. CT and can be streamed live on kuathletics.com.