Flory Bidunga played an astounding 31 minutes for Kansas in its 84–63 win over Iowa State on Tuesday, shutting down one of the nation’s leading bigs.
Prior to the Jayhawks’ first conference win over TCU, Bidunga had not consistently played 30 minutes in a game since Dec. 13.
A heavier workload unlocked Bidunga’s best defensive showing of the season.
Playing consistent minutes, Bidunga shut down one of Iowa State’s leading scorers, Blake Buchanan. He did what few elite defenders in the league have proven capable of doing — keeping Buchanan off the rim.
Prior to Tuesday, Buchanan was averaging just shy of double figures. With Bidunga patrolling the paint, he was held scoreless for much of the night and finished with just two points.
In the first half against Iowa State, the Jayhawks recorded four blocks and 11 steals — a feat they had not accomplished in a game, let alone a single half, until Tuesday. Bidunga recorded four blocks, accounting for half of Kansas’ eight total.
It’s not just defense — scoring and ball handling are becoming part of the equation
Since returning to Kansas, Bidunga’s playing time isn’t the only thing that’s trending up – his scoring is, too.
Following the win over Iowa State, he’s now scored in double figures for the seventh time in 10 games. The 6’10” forward currently averages 13.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, ranking top-50 nationally in rebounding.
Compared to last season, his minutes have doubled and his scoring has more than doubled. Fortunately for Kansas, one player doesn’t make or break a roster, and the Jayhawks’ ball movement more than showed that.
Three assists were thrown to Bidunga, two coming from Melvin Council Jr. and one from Jamari McDowell, who ended the game with six of the team’s 17.
The comparison: tonight vs. the rest of the season
It isn’t often that you go toe-to-toe with the No. 2 team in the country, let alone at home. In games like that, there is almost always something to say about performance.
Tuesday marked the sixth time this season that Bidunga’s field goal percentage topped 80%, knocking down five of six from the floor. It was also the second straight game with four blocks and the first with two or more steals since Dec. 22 against Davidson.
Bidunga also stayed out of the turnover column, recording his first game without a turnover since Dec. 2 against UConn. Kansas will look for more of the same luck on Friday against Baylor.
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