The Kansas Jayhawks may just be getting their ducks in a row.
After a rough 1-2 conference start, Bill Self’s squad has been firing on all cylinders over its last two games, which have resulted in massive wins over Iowa State and Baylor by a combined margin of 164-125, with Friday night’s massive win ending in an 80-62 win over Scott Drew’s Baylor squad.
Darryn Peterson And Flory Bidunga
The pair combined for 49 of Kansas’ 80 points on an insane 22/27 rate from the field. Peterson (26) was deservedly taking most of the plaudits with his remarkable pull-up jumpers, fadeaways, and drives to the rim; however, Baylor could never put their full focus on Peterson as Bidunga (23) ate inside while also notching 11 rebounds and a monster five blocks. If the two can consistently stay on their game, you would be hard-pressed to find a team that can beat the Jayhawks.
A Stifling Defense
Every team needs a balance of a great defense and a great offense if it wants to compete for a national title come the beginning of April. So far this season, it has been Kansas’ offense that was laboring, then when Big 12 play started, things flipped, and Kansas couldn’t string together stops. However, against Baylor, there was no hope for the Bears when Kansas got going. The Jayhawks forced 11 turnovers with eight steals included, something Self has harped on this season. Kansas also held Baylor to 36% from the field, when the Bears typically hold a 47.9% rate from the field.
Kansas Needs Bench Production
Listen, Allen Fieldhouse has clearly flexed its muscles this season, the only team to beat Kansas at home is a gritty No. 3 UConn Huskies side in a Darryn Peterson-less 61-56 loss. Yet, Kansas needs to start scoring off the bench. You may think to yourself, “yeah okay, bench points are always good, but Kansas must get a decent bit.” No, the Jayhawks sit 349th in the country in bench points with just 13.65 per game. On Friday, they finished with 13. At home, sometimes these stats can be tucked away and forgotten, but when Kansas hits the road and faces the pressure of an opposing home crowd, they will need as many scorers as they can get.
Drew was quoted on Friday night saying that the Jayhawks “I thought they picked up where they left off against Iowa State.” Which is probably as true a statement as you could say. The offense looked confident, the defense caused nightmares, and Kansas was well-deserving of their big win.
Kansas next takes on the Colorado Buffaloes next Tuesday, with tipoff set for 10 p.m. CT and streaming available on ESPN.
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