If there was one good thing about Saturday’s 74-67 loss at Utah on Saturday night, it’s that the outcome bodes well for Tuesday’s game at BYU.
On an otherwise ugly and forgettable night for the 17th-ranked Jayhawks, their trend of winning one game and losing the next that dates back to Jan. 22 continued for the eighth consecutive outing.
So, if it holds for at least one more night, the Jayhawks should be in good shape on Tuesday.
That was about all the good that could be found in the late-night loss to the Utes. KU never led, was out-rebounded by 10, watched Utah grab 16 offensive boards and gave up 11 3-pointers.
None of the individual numbers beyond that mattered a lick. What’s worse, even without ever grabbing a lead, KU had the game tied at 60 with around 4 minutes to play and was outscored 14-7 down the stretch.
While they’ve spent the past couple of weeks talking about finding a way to find their flow and put together a strong run to finish the season, the Jayhawks continue to pile up new questions on top of plenty of old ones in what has become a season full of frustrations.
Next up, KU (17-8 overall, 8-6 Big 12) will stay in the Beehive State for a few more days before heading to Provo, Utah next week to take on BYU on Tuesday night.
After that, they’ll return home for a clash with Oklahoma State on Saturday, Feb. 22. Tipoff for that one is set for 3 p.m. on CBS.
Here’s a look back at some of Saturday’s action against the Utes – if you even want to check it out.
LIKES
• Dajuan Harris the shooter – We’ve seen plenty of those games where teams play to force Harris to shoot the ball and then he does and it works out perfectly in their favor, no matter how many shots he makes or misses. This wasn’t quite one of those, largely because Harris made them pay for playing to make him a scorer. And he did it in many ways and throughout the night. He finished with 12 points in the first half alone on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range. Harris finished with just 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting overall and 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
• Flipped the switch… finally – After getting killed on the glass in the game’s first 12 minutes and having very little to show in the way of effort, extra hustle and fire, the Jayhawks responded to an 11-point deficit and a Bill Self timeout with a sequence of high-quality plays that helped change the complexion of the game. They started battling on defense. They fought for loose balls. And everything else started to fall in line as a result. In just a couple of minutes, KU trimmed that 11-point Utes lead down to 2, wrestling away some of the momentum from the home team in the process. Unfortunately for the Jayahwks, the switch was flipped off again and, once again, it coincided with the visiting team coming out of the locker room to start the second half with little to no fire.
DISLIKES
• Dickinson’s missed bunnies – He shot just 2-of-7 in the first half and at least three of the five misses were must-make shots from in close that never really even had a chance of going in. To make matters worse, the Jayhawks ran a play through Dickinson on the first possession of the second half and after getting it in perfect position on the left block, he missed the shot. Late in the second half, Dickinson caught a pass in rhythm just inside the free throw line and immediately pulled a jump shot. It missed left without even hitting the rim.
• 3-point D – Some of it can be attributed to Utah just making shots. That happens. And it especially happens when the building’s sold out and Kansas is in town for a primetime game. But there were elements of the KU defensive effort, especially early, that allowed the Utes to not only make outside shots but also get the ones they wanted to get and take them when they wanted to take them. The Utes finished the night 11-for-34 from 3-point range, including 5 makes by prolific 3-point shooter Gabe Madsen, who not only hit the dagger late in this game but also set the school record for career 3-point makes in this game.
• Hack-a-Ugh – Late in the game, down two, Kansas elected to intentionally foul one of Utah’s worst free throw shooters, hoping to use the Hack-a-Shaq approach to steal a couple of possessions. While the first half of the plan worked out well, with Utah’s Lawson Lovering bricking the front end of two one-and-ones, the second part of it did not, as Utah got not one but both rebounds on the missed free throws. If that doesn’t sum up this KU season in a single concept, I’m not sure what does.
WHAT THE?
• Zeke goes down – Late in the second half, with KU trying to mount a comeback, senior guard Zeke Mayo landed awkwardly on his left leg and appeared to hyperextend his knee. After a few minutes on the ground dealing with a mixture of pain and fear, Mayo got up and walked on his own to the bench and then back to the locker room. A few minutes later, Mayo came back onto the floor and checked into the game, no worse for wear. He had no brace or signs of any kind of work being done to the knee. Good news for the Jayhawks, who, collectively, had a few moments of holding their breath while they faced the reality of playing the rest of the game and possibly even future games without their second-leading scorer and best outside shooter.
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