The No. 11 Kansas Jayhawks are hours off of what could go down as a landmark win in their season after a narrow 64-61 win over the No. 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders, where guard Darryn Peterson’s last-minute heroics pushed the Jayhawks past a stifling Tech defense.
While a lot of the talk will deservedly go towards Peterson and his clutch shot-making, the Jayhawks have also been able to continue their six-game winning streak thanks to one consistent stat: their points in the paint.
Throughout each of the last six games that KU has won, the Jayhawks have been able to at least match their opponents in the paint, and if they are not keeping up with the opposition, (barring Kansas’ 75-69 win over Colorado), they are flying past them with a 208-142 margin, which included a 26-14 difference against the Red Raiders.
A needed difference maker
There is no point in beating around the bush; the Kansas offense sputtered through a majority of its last win. If it wasn’t for creative sets right out of timeouts and timely lobs to Flory Bidunga, Kansas failed to generate much scoring momentum, having finished with a 6-20 mark from beyond the arc and a 45.3% overall rate from the field.
The Jayhawks’ ability to expose a defense often left without the foul-ridden JT Toppin is what allowed them to stay in a game where Grant McCasland’s squad was living beyond the arc with an astounding 40 three-pointers attempted.
Flory Bidunga’s continued dominance
If Peterson’s final two shots finally broke the door open, Bidunga’s 7-8 mark from the field steadily kept knocking as the sophomore was readily available to make up for a team that shot a combined 17-45 without him.
The silver lining
No team ever wants to have that type of night from the field; more often than not, it would typically result in a loss, especially in a place where Texas Tech has already beaten No. 11 BYU and No. 6 Houston. Yet there can be a lot taken from the fact that even when things couldn’t click outside the paint, the Jayhawks were able to manage their 17th win of a packed season.
Up next for Bill Self’s squad is a short, two-game home stint where Kansas must first take on the Utah Utes, this Saturday, with tipoff set for 1:30 p.m. CT and streaming available on Fox.
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