The No. 11 Kansas Jayhawks have suddenly emerged as one of the nation’s best teams. The Jayhawks are in the midst of a seven-game winning run, which has seen three AP Top 25 teams go down, along with some of the best defense any team in the country could ask for, as the Jayhawks currently sit 26th in the nation, giving up just 67.3 points per game.
While each of Melvin Council Jr., Darryn Peterson, Bryson Tiller, and Tre White has had a stretch of great moments through the aforementioned unbeaten run, the starter who has been readily consistent is forward Flory Bidunga.
Bidunga’s 14.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.8 blocks, and 68.4% field goal mark hardly describe all the impact the sophomore has on the game.
Bidunga’s mere presence in the paint scares players away, oftentimes forcing opponents to resort to lower percentage shots, which has contributed to Kansas’ rock-solid defense.
There is usually a pretty simple counter to playing a defensively dominant big man who can cover each position with ease: driving to the rack to draw fouls.
For the first part of the season, Bidunga struggled for consistent minutes because of that exploit, which saw him tally 33 fouls through Kansas’ first 14 games, including three games where he tallied four fouls, all of which the Jayhawks lost.
Bidunga’s sudden improvement
Since Kansas’ 81-75 loss to UCF to open conference play in early January, Bidunga’s foul numbers have decreased to just 15 over the last nine games, eight of those resulting in wins for the Jayhawks and none of those resulting in Bidunga reaching past three fouls.
“You know, guys are stubborn. We think that we know more about what we should be doing than what somebody else should be telling us to do,” quoted head coach Bill Self following the Jayhawks’ latest 71-59 win over the Utah Utes, where Bidunga totaled 17 points, 10 rebounds, and a monster seven blocks.
“Flory was a gambler, and now he doesn't lunge. He stays down, he plays to his length. I think he's figured out that way as far better for him…He's doing a much better job with that.”
Bidunga and the rest of the Jayhawks will have to play their best game of the season as Kansas is set to welcome the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats Monday night. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT with streaming available on ESPN.
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