Kansas basketball entered a Wednesday night contest at Creighton with momentum, winning each of its seven games in the 2024-25 campaign. The top-ranked Jayhawks hoped to continue their undefeated year against an opponent that had struggled lately, but an uninspiring first half gave the Bluejays enough ammunition to pull away 76-63 in the end.
The loss was not necessarily surprising, considering it was KU’s first true road test of the season. It certainly isn’t time to sound the alarm bells in Lawrence. However, the defeat did expose some glaring issues that could be an issue moving forward, particularly on the offensive end of the ball.
Creighton was the first team to figure out how to guard Kansas basketball
Creighton coach Greg McDermott entered the matchup with an interesting game plan. He emphasized guarding three players while letting two others — Dajuan Harris and KJ Adams — essentially roam free on the court.
When those players shared the floor last night, two Bluejay defenders moved around for help defense. Fans know they both have their offensive limitations, with Adams lacking a shot beyond the free-throw line and Harris being a subpar scorer. This resulted in something that has troubled Kansas in past years, as the team’s offensive ceiling is often limited due to spacing problems.
McDermott dared Harris to shoot all night and shut down the two-man game between him and Hunter Dickinson. The star big man only finished with six points on four shot attempts, a career-low for him wearing a Jayhawk uniform. Meanwhile, Harris finished with an abysmal 15 misses on a career-high 21 shot attempts. Dickinson was being shadowed by a help defender and struggled to find himself in good post position, so the plan clearly worked.
Of course, not every school has a player like Ryan Kalkbrenner, one of the few players in the country who rivals Dickinson in size. Although Kansas has yet to pass the eye test, the squad is still figuring out how to gel.
What is more concerning is how Bill Self failed to make any adjustments in the second half. He allowed Harris to quarterback the offense for many of the ensuing 20 minutes, and KU eventually dug itself a hole too deep to escape from.
It is a conversation that has surrounded KU basketball for multiple seasons in a row. Some argue that Harris’ playmaking makes up for his lack of shot-creating, but having two offensive liabilities in the starting lineup could continue to plague the Jayhawks against teams who know how to guard them. If other teams begin to adopt similar tactics by leaving Harris and Adams open, Coach Self may need to make some changes.