Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks at K-State Wildcats: Can KU BUILD MOMENTUM And Why Having KJ Adams Back is HUGE

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's Locked on Jayhawks, Kansas looks to build some momentum after the Iowa State win by taking on a red-hot Kansas State Wildcats team. We preview the Jayhawks and the Wildcats. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here. This is Locked On Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. Thank you to every dayers catching each and every episode. And you can find us anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page,

Starting point is 00:00:38 where you can like and subscribe to the show. On today's edition of Locked On Jayhawks, we are previewing the Kansas-Kansas State matchup. We'll get into the headlines, what happened in the last meeting between these two, the Kansas State scouting report, keys to the game, and players to watch on this episode of LOJ. First, we are brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook.

Starting point is 00:00:57 Super Bowl 59 is here coming up on Sunday, and there's no better way to make every play more exciting than with FanDuel Sportsbook. New customers can bet just $5, and if you win, you'll score $200 in bonus bets. Download the app or head to FanDuel.com to get started today. Kansas, Kansas State, Saturday afternoon game, and as far as the big headlines coming into this one, I think from the Kansas perspective, they're trying to build some momentum, right? You come off some of these tough Saturday losses, and I guess trying to win on Saturday would be one of these too, but you had an opportunity to turn things around.

Starting point is 00:01:30 It seemed like in the Saturday game against Baylor, and you almost did, and then the second half happened, right? But you at least made a stand on Monday night against Iowa State. Now, is that just going to be, hey, you were coming off a loss, you were playing at Allen Fieldhouse, and Iowa State's kind of in a rut right now? Or are you going to allow that to turn into the start of a kick of momentum if you are Kansas? You look at the upcoming schedule for really the next four games after this one, maybe five games after this one, and there's an opportunity to rack up some wins. It doesn't mean Kansas will win every game, but it's a better opportunity than some of the recent games like playing at Baylor against Houston or you know some of these

Starting point is 00:02:08 teams but standing in their way is Kansas State who they're looking to keep up their momentum they are one of the hottest teams not just in the conference but in the country right now in terms of how they are playing at this moment in time they've won four straight games and since January 25th when that four-game winning streak began they're one of the top three teams in the country according to Bart Torvik and they own a top 25 offense and top 10 defense in that span which again small sample size but they're playing good basketball at this point in time now you look what happened in the most recent outing between Kansas and Kansas State Jayhawks won 84 to74 in Allen Fieldhouse. And there was a game where Kansas got off to a really strong start.

Starting point is 00:02:47 I think it was 14-0 to kick off the game. They ended up, you know, from there playing close to even. Kansas State, I think after the game, you had Coleman Hawkins saying that, you know, if we didn't give up that early run, like we feel like we should have won the game. And, I mean, I guess technically you could say yes, but also at the same point in time, like that is why should have won the game and i mean i guess technically you could say yes but also at the same point of time like that is why every part of the game matters you don't just get to pick parts of the game that you want but nonetheless like um colin hawkins was great in

Starting point is 00:03:14 that game 15 points 10 assists five rebounds um they didn't get much from brendan housing which they normally do david gasson was pretty good, 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting for them, and they really got good production from the big men just in general, right? You look at Onyensa, who's not really a big scorer, but between him and Gasson and Coleman Hawkins, they're three primary big men who play the 4

Starting point is 00:03:37 and the 5 position. You've got to combine 37 points between those guys. For KU, though, DeJuan Harris was great, 15 points. He was six of nine from the floor also had five assists five rebounds Zeke Mayo was just making everything he finished with 24 points Hunter Dickinson was great 12 of 19 from the floor 25 points to go with eight rebounds on the offensive end of the floor and AJ Storer got a good amount of minutes in that one of 17 minutes and scoring six points but what what sticks out from the team perspective from that first matchup

Starting point is 00:04:06 was that you look at Kansas having a really good offensive rebounding game. Kansas grabbed 43% of their offensive misses and out-rebounded Kansas State and was better from that perspective. Kansas State only had five turnovers, though, which is a really low number. Kansas has not been really doing a great job of forcing turnovers this year that was uh i think more of the truth in that matter another three-point shooting both teams made six of them but the difference was kansas state took 26 of them kansas took 16 of them so uh when you look at it from the kansas state perspective this has been a team who has shot well from three pretty much so far this season to where

Starting point is 00:04:44 um i don't know that you can count on that happening again in this one. Beyond that, the final headline here is trying to snap a losing streak in Manhattan because they've lost the last two. Jerome Tang is 2-0 since he's taken over as the K-State head coach in the games that have been in Manhattan. And I think what's interesting, I was actually thinking about this because I believe Grant McCasland, right? The head coach for Texas Tech. I want to say before he was the head coach at Texas Tech, he was the head coach at North Texas. And before he was the head coach at North

Starting point is 00:05:14 Texas, I want to say he has ties to Baylor. He does. Yeah, he was an assistant coach at Baylor with Scott Drew. So point being, the three coaches who are in the Big 12, who are the Scott Drew or Scott Drew coaching tree, have low-key kind of dominated, maybe not dominated because they're not like blowouts for the most part, but like you get what I mean, in the home games, not in Allen Fieldhouse, but in the home games. Because think about it.

Starting point is 00:05:38 KU hasn't won in Waco since 2020. So Baylor's won five straight home games against Kansas. Jerome Tang has won two straight home games against Kansas uh Jerome Tang has won two straight home games against Kansas and then Texas Tech beat Kansas with McCaslin last year in Lubbock so technically you could say the Scott Drew coaching tree has collectively their three winning streaks at home against Kansas is eight and that is pretty remarkable to think about so maybe we'll see if Kansas can can put a snap to that here in this one uh the opponent scouting report Kansas State comes in at 11 and 11 on the season they are on that four game winning streak that we mentioned five and six in big 12 play uh those

Starting point is 00:06:13 four straight wins it came over West Virginia by 13 points Oklahoma State by 28 Iowa State on the road by 19 which certainly you know raises your eyebrows and then Arizona State most recently by one a game that they were down I think it was like 15 nothing to start like 18 to 3 or something like that to start the game they battled back and then arizona state uh you know doinks the free throws at the end of the game um so crazy win for them but currently they're ranked in the top 65 on ken bomb they have a balanced offense and defense that are kind of right around that mark too the personnel of note for kansas state doug mc 5'11 point guard, 10 points over four assists per game, only 25% from three, but he's been shooting the ball better of late and the track record says that he should.

Starting point is 00:06:55 Speaking of shooting, Brendan Housen is their 6'4 sharpshooter, 12 points per game, 42% on high volume from three-point range. And over over his last three games he's averaging 15 points per game on 11 of 18 from three point range so you've got to mark him the good news is kansas did a good job in the first game he had just seven points he made just one three in that first game but you got to keep doing it here in this go around uh six foot four 220 pound wing max jones he's playing a little bit more and seeing his stats go up lately, too. 10 points, 4 rebounds per game, 41% from 3. So that's a good little duo there. And 4 straight games for him with 12 or more points.

Starting point is 00:07:31 Then you look at the big man position. 6'9", 220, David Gasson. He can play the 4 or the 5. 12.5 points per game, 7 rebounds per game, 64%. Can shoot it a little bit from 3. They have Coleman Hawkins, who is just doing a little bit of everything. 11 points, 7 rebounds, four and a half assists, two steals, over a block per game on 41-32-60 shooting splits.

Starting point is 00:07:52 And he also plays the four and the five. And then they'll throw out Uganda Onyento, who, again, he had nine points on four for four in the first meeting in Lawrence. And he comes out there and just brings in additional size. Other bench pieces of note 6-1 freshman David Castillo he struggled shooting 6-5 guard CJ Jones six points three and 36 percent from three so certainly somebody to mark and then six foot six wing Moby Ikiguruka I definitely mispronounced that anyway when you look at what Kansas State does well they've shot the ball well

Starting point is 00:08:21 uh in big 12 games they are fourth in two point percentage they are sixth so at least upper half and three point percentage on solid volumes which if you're looking at their overall season numbers the three point percentage is even better for them so they've been a pretty good shooting team so far and they have the second best assist to field goal make rate in uh big 12 only play so they're moving the ball pretty well now defensively they've done a good job avoiding sending teams to the line, not giving up a ton of free throws. They have a top four

Starting point is 00:08:50 two-point defense in league only play and they have a solid turnover rate that hasn't been quite as good in conference play, but overall in the season is pretty good. Where they've struggled so far this season, they've been bad at offensive rebounding, they've been bad at defensive reboundingounding so they've just been a bad rebounding team we

Starting point is 00:09:07 mentioned kansas in the first matchup was able to take advantage of that we'll see if they can do that again in manhattan they've also been uh bad at turning the ball over offensively though oddly enough it's not really coming from steals they're they're having a lot of non-steel turnovers which would be either the the non-live ball turnovers where you're throwing it out of bounds you're taking a shot clock violation you're running into a charge uh those kinds of ones but we'll see if KU can certainly force more than the five turnovers you forced in the first game um also teams have shot 36 percent from three against Kansas State in Big 12 play is that something they're doing wrong are they leaving people too open too often or have they just been a little bit unlucky there that uh kind of remains be seen, but certainly something to keep an eye on headed into this

Starting point is 00:09:48 matchup. All right, let's continue on with our keys to the game coming up next. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Today's episode is brought to you by PrizePix. The big game is almost here and there's no better way to make it even more exciting than with PrizePix, the best place for daily fantasy sports. With over 10 million members and billions in winnings awarded prize picks makes it fun and simple to get in on the action here's how it works you pick more or less on at least two player projections and if you're right you can win up to 1 000 times your cash prize picks even has a free pick for the big game where patrick mahomes only needs to throw one yard to win pair that with one more correct pick and you're cashing out.

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Starting point is 00:10:46 Prize picks run your game. Continuing on on this episode of Locked On Jayhawks, don't forget to make Locked On College basketball your second listen every day. Get you ready for the weekend ahead beyond the KUK State game. All right, keys to the game number one, Kansas finishing at the rim. So in the first go-around, Kansas was excellent finishing at the rim. Obviously, Hunter Dickinson played a big part in this with his 25 points. DeJuan Harris was really good finishing at the rim in the first matchup too.

Starting point is 00:11:13 Overall, Kansas as a team shot 16 of 18. That's good for 89% on shots at the rim. In Big 12 play, Kansas is getting 36 paint points per game. That puts them in the 87th percentile nationally, so that's good. And then in conference play as well, Kansas State is giving up 33 paint points per game for their defense, which puts them in the 32nd percentile. So on paper, this is an advantage both ways for KU. But on the road, you have to finish. And I want to say it was the one last year.

Starting point is 00:11:43 Maybe it was the one two years ago. Kansas just really struggled finishing at the rim in manhattan right you wonder if that's the crowd if if it's whatever it is and uh it is of note that while you're still above average nationally kansas's field goal percentage at the rim is is definitely lower you know than what they've done across all games so across all games this season, all conference games, I should say, Kansas is shooting just a hair under 69% at the rim this season. But in road games, all road games this season, they're shooting 64%. That is a pretty sizable drop. So can you be more of what you normally are in a game like this

Starting point is 00:12:22 to try to take advantage of something that on paper should be an advantage for you. Number two key to the game is don't let Housen get hot and just in general kind of guarding the three ball if you're Kansas. Over the four game winning streak for Kansas State, Housen is shooting 52% from three point range. So very good. And over the last five games, which is the number of games they've played since they lost to kansas he is shooting 50 from three point range uh and that was after that bad game in lawrence where he went just one for five so he's been on fire since then was he one for five in the in the game in island field house because kansas did an excellent job defending him was it just not his night i mean in a one game sample right that could be the difference of you missed just one extra three

Starting point is 00:13:04 you normally make and a two or five night 40 is much different than a one of five nights so uh who knows exactly but kansas needs to you know make things difficult on him and the rest of k state from three in general because especially you look at playing on the road like three balls can be such a huge crowd um momentum creator or yeah and especially for a guy like housing who can really get hot from three so when you look at how the key defense is played uh i think one way for kansas state to crack into that which kansas has played good defense here of late outside of you know uh wasn't great in the home game against ucf but or the second half against baylor but like the overarching theme of the

Starting point is 00:13:42 season has been kansas does have a good defense and for Kansas State one way to you know deal with that is just go nuts and go bombs away from three obviously housing is the main problem here when you're defending three-point shots against Kansas State but it is elsewhere too they have uh five games or the last five games Kansas State is shooting 43 percent on above the break threes and 42% on corner threes. So that comes from a lot of different players on the team. That comes from a lot of different areas on the court. You have to do a good job chasing them up the three-point line and sticking with shooters on the outside. Number three, final key of the game for Kansas against Kansas State. Can you get the

Starting point is 00:14:19 transition scoring going? On the season, Kansas getting 11 and a half transition points per game that puts them in the 74th percentile nationally so they're basically right around or in the top quartet of college basketball in terms of transition scoring so they're pretty good at it they're not as good i mean early in the season they were getting you know getting 13 a game but i'm still pretty good at it the reason as i just mentioned earlier in the season they were you know getting 13 points per game the reason that number's dipped is because in conference play, they have seen that number drop severely. They're down to just 8.8 transition points per game,

Starting point is 00:14:52 which is in just the 42nd percentile of college basketball. So in conference-only games, they are a below-average fast-break offense right now, which is pretty crazy to think, considering some of the things that they do well and some of the players they have and the personnel that that is suited to do that right now i guess part of that is like well aj store is really good in transition but he's been inconsistent with playing time and you know that that can play into part of it too but kansas needs to figure this out and i

Starting point is 00:15:16 know on paper it's like oh that's a three-point difference like how really important is that well i don't know like over the course of a season that could be the difference of one extra win you know that pushes you over the top but that could be the difference of one extra win, you know, that pushes you over the top. That could be the difference of two extra wins or something. So as good as the KU offense was in the first meeting with the Wildcats, because, I mean, that was up until that point, that was their most efficient game of the season. They didn't really do it in fast break.

Starting point is 00:15:38 They only scored six fast break points among the 84 that they scored in the game. But I have a hunch that Kansas probably isn't going to, you know, have as efficient of an offensive game as they had the first go around, right? And if that is the case, you have to find other ways. Maybe you don't shoot it as well, but can you find other ways to supplant the offense that you might be losing out on there? And I think scoring double that, right? Can you get to 12 fast break points?

Starting point is 00:16:04 Like that would go a long way to winning on the road and being able to do that uh and for what's worth kansas state has been uh about a nationally average team in transition defense this year they're in the 46th percentile in transition points allowed per game so it it's not that this is something where kansas you know isn't just ever going to be able to do it you might get some opportunities but you better take advantage of them uh in a game like this and that's another way when you're on the road to quiet the crowd right you get a steal you get a run out you get an easy dunk crowd goes quiet right you get a run out and you get an easy layup or um just not having to be in a half court setting where you're going up not just against a half court defense where things are more set but now

Starting point is 00:16:43 the student section can get into it and get loud while you're trying to run your offense and you can't hear Bill Self. You don't have to worry about that if it's in transition. So that's why that one is part of our keys to the game. Let's get to our players to watch who's high on the go-off meter and what is our player matchup of the game coming up on Locked on Jayhawks. This episode is brought to you by FanD sportsbook where super bowl 59 is here and you can go to fan duel with one game two teams chiefs endless possibilities and there's a

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Starting point is 00:17:54 of Super Bowl 59. I continue on the show here with Locked on Jayhawks and finishing up with a little players to watch for the Kansas-Kansas State matchup. We will have a KUK State postcast. We're going to be doing some broadcast stuff on Saturday, so I'll get that

Starting point is 00:18:11 out to you later on Saturday. It won't be as immediate after the game as some of our other ones, but it will come out to you at some point this weekend for whatever happens in KUK State. All right, player matchup to watch in this one, Coleman Hawkins versus KJ Adams. KJ Adams did not play in that first go-around against Kansas State, and it was super interesting because k-state all right player matchup to watch in this one coleman hawkins versus kj adams kj adams did not play in that first go around against kansas state and it was super interesting because um to

Starting point is 00:18:30 that point in time it was kansas's most efficient by points per possession offensive game of the season but it was also their least efficient defensive game of the season and you know some of that makes sense because you think of KJ is at times clogging up the offensive end of the court but on defense arguably being Kansas's best defender and so it's this weird thing of like well what do you want more well I think that he is very helpful for this specific matchup because I mean you look at KJ's coming off an unbelievable game I think defensively and what he put up against Iowa State but But you look at this matchup and specifically Kansas couldn't really find an answer for stopping the big men with Kansas State. And they basically said, hey, like we have two big men out there.

Starting point is 00:19:14 Like if you're going to throw Ryland Griffin or AJ Storrs a small ball forward, we'll go inside to one of these guys. And then on top of it, it was like it felt like Kansas couldn't figure out a way to stop Coleman Hawkins. You know, as impactful as Flory can be on the defensive end i do think there's still some he has the mobility and athleticism to do it but it's inconsistent what happens there when he is guarding out in space and i think at times colman hawkins took advantage of that i think at times when it was aj store rylan griffin in there colman hawkins took advantage of the size uh mismatch there i think kj is the perfect blend to guard colman hawkins in a matchup like this where he has that ability to guard him from the perimeter but also the strength to deal with him inside where i you know

Starting point is 00:19:54 so i i think uh when i look at hawkins having 15 points 10 assists 7 rebounds in the game in lawrence i would take the under on the combined points and assists being you know 25 again in this one because KJ I think is is that good of a defender and can help you a lot in this specific matchup now on the other end of the floor it becomes interesting what does Kansas State do with KJ Adams out there right do they guard him do they not do they sag off them who do they throw on him in a guarding position how does Kansas take advantage of that KJ just had a really good passing game to help dice up Iowa State is Kansas able to take advantage of that in some way against Kansas State so I think there's a lot of interesting you know chess match type things

Starting point is 00:20:33 between Jerome Tang and Bill Self with having KJ Adams now into this matchup but I do think it helps KU from that defensive perspective of helping to slow down one of Kansas State's best players in Hawkins with having KJ out on the floor and being able to say, hey, you had those nearly 40 points from your three big men. Now we can bring Flory off the bench and we feel like we have better big men depth this go around. We don't have to worry about the foul trouble as much to kind of match what you did last time. High on the go-off meter we're going to go with hunter dickinson uh he had 25 points on 12 of 19 against kansas state in the matchup in lawrence he was really good in that matchup and i think uh to me i i view gasson as um being somebody who you know he's a solid big man but he's undersized when he's going up against hunter dickinson right

Starting point is 00:21:19 hunter's getting five inches and i don't know 40 pounds i don't know what hunter weighs but um you have the size advantage when it's colman hawkins right colman hawkins is a little bit taller but he's even lighter in terms of the the strength weight mismatch between hunter and him so um i think that's good for honor the question does become going back to kj um if by having kj in there does it make it more difficult from the spacing perspective for hunter but here's the thing hunter was playing a lot of that game next to Flory. And so in theory, like Flory is a non-shooter too, right? It might be a little bit different in terms of Flory can finish on like a hook shot a

Starting point is 00:21:55 little bit more than KJ can or like can go through the defender maybe a little bit more because of length. But still, I look at that and say, okay, that probably is going to be similar. So why can't Hunter have another big game? Let's go around against Kansas State. And I should mention that I guess Hunter is averaging like two less points per game on the road than at home. But that's not like a huge difference. So I think Hunter has another big game.

Starting point is 00:22:17 I don't know if I'd quite go to 25 points, but I think he can have a big game. And they're going to need him to. Going back to one of our keys of the game, finishing around the rim. Well, who's going to get probably the most shots in that specific area? Probably going to be Hunter Dickinson for KU. All right, that'll do it for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcasts, including on our YouTube

Starting point is 00:22:33 page. Check out all our bonus episodes. We had one on Jalen Daniels. We had one on Drayden Punt, the new commit for KU football, 6'7". We've had plenty of other conversations looking at next year's basketball team. So find those anywhere you get your podcasts here with Locked on Jayhawks or on our YouTube page.

Starting point is 00:22:49 And again, we'll be back at you this weekend for a recap later on your weekend between whatever happens for the Jayhawks against the Wildcats. See you then with LOJ.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Kansas Jayhawks at K-State Wildcats: Can KU BUILD MOMENTUM And Why Having KJ Adams Back is HUGE

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