Seasons have certainly gotten off to a cleaner start for the No. 25 Kansas Jayhawks. The rollout of five-star freshman Darryn Peterson has resulted in numerous tumbles, most recently a tight hamstring issue, which leaves his status heading into the State Farm Champions Classic up in the air.
Despite that, the Jayhawks have performed relatively well. Forward Flory Bidunga is wreaking havoc with his smooth ability in the post, and while Kansas could certainly aim for high three-point numbers (36.5% which is 100th in the country), the season’s embryonic form suggests that there is still massive room for improvement.
The biggest question left to be answered is how well the Jayhawks will do when Peterson is not playing. So far throughout the non-conference section of the season, playing against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Princeton is not going to cost Kansas. Yet, as the season wears on and the daunting Big 12 gets rolling, head coach Bill Self and his stacked coaching staff will have to find answers.
Ahead of Kansas’ massive matchup against the Blue Devils, CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish published his top 25 and one rankings, and Kansas was slotted into the 22nd slot.
‘I was pissed from the beginning,’ Bill Self relives opening of latest win
So far through four games of the Jayhawks' season, Kansas ranks 115th in scoring with 80.3 points per game.
While Kansas' offensive game could be improved, its defense has shown great promise this season. As it stands, the Jayhawks have allowed just 60.3 points per game, which ranks 13th-best in the country.
So far, Self’s squad has failed on its first benchmark, an 87-74 loss to the No.18 UNC Tar Heels. That night, the Jayhawks were outmuscled in every second-half aspect and gave up a monster 58 points.
Kansas will travel to Madison Square Garden on November 18th to take on Duke, with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m. CT with streaming available on ESPN.
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