The Kansas Jayhawks basketball season has been disappointing to say the least. After dropping two out of conference games, the Jayhawks have now lost three Big 12 games, two of which have come in Allen Fieldhouse. The latest came in double-OT where the Jayhawks fell to the Houston Cougars 92-86. It was how KU lost that was so unsettling however.
Just days after Coach Bill Self was calling out the “student hype” this season, Kansas gave the student section something to not just be apathetic about, but something that was boo-worthy. KU choked away a near-certain win in regulation and choked away another opportunity to seal the deal in OT, both occurring due to the inability to effectively make an inbounds pass.
Per KenPom, the Cougars had a mere 0.4% chance at victory when the Jayhawks had the ball and a 6-point lead with 18.3 seconds left in overtime. Dajuan Harris Jr. went on to miss both free throws, Houston hit a three, Zeke Mayo threw the ball into contested coverage and Kansas turned the ball over, just for the Cougars to drain another three. Brutal.
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Prior to the overtime woes, In regulation, KU had a 6-point lead with 1:10 left in the game. Kansas had multiple turnovers, one of which was a 5-second violation by Zeke Mayo, which gave the ball back to Houston with 16 seconds left. One Shakeel Moore foul later and the game was tied and going to OT.
Who is to blame for the inbound pass travesty that occurred multiple times in this crushing loss?
The blame begins at the top with Bill Self due to some head scratching decisions
It seemed like Coach Self may have a different philosophy than most when it comes to late-game inbound plays while up points. Most coaches lean on their best FT shooter to shake off a defender in the open court and catch the inbounds pass to get to the line. For Kansas, Zeke Mayo is that guy (entering the game as an 87% career FT shooter and 84% this season).
Mayo did struggle against Houston, shooting just 3/6 on FTs on Saturday night, but even after the rough performance, Mayo still leads KU at 79.5% at the charity stripe. So why did Bill Self have him inbounding the ball instead? Especially when you have a 5th year senior in Dajaun Harris Jr. who is incredibly good at taking care of the basketball and finding the right pass.
Ultimately, after the first 5-second violation in regulation, Self should have turned to someone other than Mayo rather than witnessing another turnover that led to Houston’s game-tying three. Additionally, Self had questionable substitutions on the OT inbound plays as well, subbing on 5’10” David Coit, who was unable to get any separation on the inbound play.
The Jayhawks players are at fault as well for this collapse
Despite the issues with the coaching decisions, Coach Self isn’t the one ultimately on the court and the players clearly need to do better as well. Beginning with Mayo, having the 5-second violation in regulation while Kansas had a timeout is unacceptable. The four players trying to receive the ball certainly did not help, but a 4th year college player must do better there.
Additionally, Harris Jr. and Hunter Dickinson are also to blame. They are the leaders on the team and with KJ Adams Jr. injured, the two seniors need to step up and do everything they can to take control of those situations. Whether that is demanding to take the ball out of bounds in regulation/OT or pushing through contact to receive the ball, they were both too passive.
Perhaps Harris Jr. felt a bit disoriented after failing to make either FT with 18.3 seconds left in OT, but he was completely swallowed up by the defense on the inbound plays down the stretch. Kansas ended up ruining great games from Flory Bidunga and Rylan Griffen and dropped their 2nd game in front of the home crowd this season.
The Jayhawks will look to bounce back at home on Tuesday against UCF, the same team thatthey throttled in an away game just weeks ago.