The Kansas basketball team looked good Saturday as they moved to 7-3 after a convincing 20-point win over their bitter rivals, the Missouri Tigers. The game featured the return of super-frosh Darryn Peterson, who scored 17.
Something the Jayhawks did well against Mizzou is something they've been excelling in all season: getting to the free-throw line and converting.
Against Missouri, Kansas went 19-for-26 at the charity line for a solid 73.0 percent. Conversely, the Tigers struggled to hit their free shots, connecting on just 11 of 21. The difference in effectiveness propelled KU to the impressive victory.
Getting to the line has been a skill of this Kansas basketball team all season
The Jayhawks are getting to the line more often than any KU team in nearly a decade. Through 10 games, KU is averaging 21.3 free throws a game. Not since the days of Frank Mason and Devonte Graham in 2016-17 has Kansas made it to the line at such a pace. That team got to the line 21.9 times per contest.
Not since 2014-15 has a Kansas team made more than the 16.1 free throws a game that the current roster is producing. In fact, no Bill Self team at Kansas has ever been as effective at the free throw line as this team is. KU is completing 75.6 percent of their attempts.
For a team that has struggled to score in their half-court offense, being able to get to the line and converting at such a high rate has camouflaged some of those offensive warts.
The best of the Jayhawks in this area has been Tre White. He's been to the line nearly double the times the next highest player has. White is 52 out of 61 from the free-throw line, good for an impressive 85.2 percent.
Others have chipped in. Melvin Council Jr. is 22-for-28, for 78.6 percent. Flory Bidunga has connected on 71.9 percent, hitting 23 of his 32 tries. Elmarko Jackson is 12-for-16 for 75 percent, and Darryn Peterson, in limited action, is 9-for-11, 81.2 percent.
Of the regulars, only Bryson Tiller (64.5 percent) and Jamari McDowell (63.6 percent) are shooting under 70 percent.
White has been fantastic at drawing contact when he drives, and he's been taking full advantage of the new continuation rule in college basketball. If he is going toward the basket and he draws some contact, he gets the ball going toward the rim so he will be awarded free throws. It's a fine skill set, made even better by the fact he's converting those opportunities into points.
The ability to get to the line is a valuable weapon for a team that is offensively challenged at times, and the fact that the Jayhawks are effective once they get to the charity stripe will help them win ball games.
If the free-throw shooting continues at this rate of effectiveness throughout the season, this will be Self's best team at the line at Kansas. That's a nice distinction to have.