With all the uncertainties around the No. 17 Kansas Jayhawks offense, there has been one consistent force. Now, not to sound like an old coach with this adage, but if defense does win championships, then it's not fair to count the Jayhawks out of the race.
So far, Kansas allows just 63.5 points per game, which measures out to the 12th-best scoring defense in the nation. To make things even better, Bill Self’s squad currently sits with the fourth-best shooting defense in the nation as Kansas allows just 36.6% of the opposition shots to swap the net.
When the Jayhawks took to the court on Tuesday against a stiff Towson team, the Jayhawks continued their defensive dominance with a 73-49 win, where Kansas stifled the Tigers’ offense to just 28% from the field.
Just one Towson player notched over 10 points (Dylan Williamson), but it took Williamson 20 shots to get 11 points.
“I'll go home thinking our first shot defense is getting better,” quoted Self following Kansas’ ninth win.
“We just don't rebound the ball the way we're capable of rebounding the ball, but I do think we have a chance to be a really good defensive team. I don't think we are yet. And our defense is definitely ahead of our offense, but when we get all our pieces out there and have some time to play together, I see the thing coming together.”
Self has lamented about Kansas’ ability (or lack thereof) to rebound the ball, and it was probably the only thing Towson did better than the Jayhawks.
As a matter of fact, the Tigers notched 22 offensive rebounds, which is glaring and something Kansas must improve on, but barring this glitch in the metrics, the Jayhawks thoroughly dominated the box score.
Kansas takes on the Davidson Wildcats next Monday with streaming available on ESPN+ and tipoff set for 7 p.m. CT.
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