In order for a collegiate basketball team to be National Championship-worthy, a number of things have to go their way, barring the intangibles. A great place to start is always the two basic blunt stats in basketball. Are you scoring enough? Are you not allowing too many points? Finding the fine line between an elite offense and a stifling defense will more often than not put you in a good spot to contend for a championship.
“Do we need to be really good defensively? And the answer is, we must, because offensively, I could see us, you know, going through phases where we labor, so we've got to be better defensively.”
That is the quote of Kansas head coach Bill Self speaking with the media earlier this week ahead of Kansas’ next exhibition against Fort Hays State Tuesday night.
Against the Louisville Cardinals last Friday, Kansas took down the No. 11 Louisville Cardinals. The Jayhawks exited the exhibition victorious with a 90-82 scoreline.
Leading the way for Kansas was star freshman Darryn Peterson. Peterson notched 26 points, which included a 9-15 mark from the field, showcasing the scoring prowess of Peterson. Yet, with Peterson scoring over 25% of the points for Kansas, fans may fear that if Peterson has an off night, so will the team.
Both Tre White and Flory Bidunga contributed 14 points on a combined 11-15 from the field, as they each filed in as the team’s second-leading scorers.
For the Cardinals, Ryan Conwell’s 26 points are slightly diminished thanks to his 21 shots. J’Vonne Hadley follows in second place with 13 points on 4-4 shooting.
Kansas held Louisville to a 33.3% field goal rate and a paltry 28.9% from the field. The Jayhawks did allow runs of 12, six, and five, sprinkled throughout the game, but mostly kept things relatively tidy on the defensive end. Albeit against a Louisville team that has shipped in a number of new faces. Only one of the five players who totaled 20+ minutes for the Cardinals on Friday was there last year. Transfers Adrian Wooley, Issac McKneely, and Conwell all used to ply their trades at other schools. Mikel Brown Jr. was a five-star freshman, leaving J’Vonne Hadley to be the only player who marked 20+ minutes who was a Cardinal last season.
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