In a few hours, the No. 17 Kansas Jayhawks will be taking the court against the Davidson Wildcats. So far this season, the Wildcats currently hold a strong 8-3 record and rank 119th in the well-known KenPom metric, with a +4.49 rating.
Leading the Wildcats in points per game this season is guard Josh Schovens, who scores 10.5 points. However, Davidson lists four players who average at least nine points, including guard Robert Blums (9.6), guard Nick Coval (9.4), and guard Hunter Adam (9.1).
“Because they'll run motion, and in motion with teams that are really good at it are the easiest to prepare for, but the hardest to play,” quoted Kansas head coach Bill Self Sunday afternoon.
“Because every defensive coverage dictates what the offense does. So you can simulate it, practice all you want to, but it's hard to create it.”
This is a Davidson team that struggles to score consistently, as the Wildcats rank 217th in the nation with 73 points per game.
That being said, Davidson that does notch 47.8% field goal rate, which sits 64th in the nation.
Head coach Matt McKillop’s squad prides itself on a strong defense, which ranks 42nd in the nation, allowing just 67.6 points per game.
Overall, this should be a relatively easy matchup for Kansas. While the Jayhawks have struggled in several first halves when it comes to growing a margin, Davidson’s lack of a massive playmaker will likely open up room for even a sluggish Jayhawk offense to grow separation in the game.
Earlier today, news broke via head coach Bill Self that the Jayhawks were going to be without leading average scorer Darryn Peterson, yet Flory Bidunga, Melvin Council Jr, and Tre White have allbeen reliable scorers on their day.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT with streaming available on ESPN+.