Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - KANSAS VS NC STATE | Will Darrion Williams Transfer Twist Lead Wolfpack by Tre White & the Jayhawks?

Starting point is 00:00:00 KU's looking for the first road win of the year and they got to go through a dude that they talk to a lot in the off season, Dary and Williams, to get it done. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:25 What's going on? Derek Johnson here. Thank you for making Locked on Jayhawks, your first listen every day. And thank you for making the Lockdown podcast network, the number one sports podcast network. On today's episode of Lockdown Jayhawks, we're breaking down Kansas NC State, Darren Peterson versus Darian Williams. Nearly teammates, now foes. Can Kansas find a way to win this one on the road against a tough NC State squad?

Starting point is 00:00:46 Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanduel.com, place your NFL live bets all season long. So KU takes on NC State, little Saturday afternoon matinee for KU taking on the Wolfpack here. And it's interesting from a standpoint of like, okay, these are two top 30 teams. Like this would be a good opportunity. I mean, it's a quad one opportunity for KU. Like, can you win one on the road? Both these teams come in at seven and three on the season.

Starting point is 00:01:16 Can you avoid your fourth loss? And especially for Kansas, who's going to be playing a ton more good teams in Big 12 play, you don't want those losses to stack up where, you know, you're getting to 10, 11, 12, losses and what does that mean for your NCAA tournament seed. But really, to me, this game is a lot about the Daryon Williams Fest saga, however you want to phrase it. So if you were under a rock during the off season, Darian Williams, who was an excellent player at Texas Tech, he was all big 12 first team performer last year, really killed KU in the couple times he played him. I mean, the game down in Lubbock a couple years ago, he did not miss a shot. He had like 30 points and

Starting point is 00:01:55 did not miss a shot. Then the game in Allen Fieldhouse, he has a solid game and he hits the dagger three to basically seal the win for Texas Tech to win in Allen Fieldhouse. And he just had a great year for Texas Tech en route to the elite eight and all sorts of success. And then he entered the transfer portal and felt like a very needed player for KU. You know, we talked to all offseason that we liked the KU editions, that it felt like they were going for fit over just pure, I don't know, pizzazz.

Starting point is 00:02:25 for lack of a better term, but they needed that one other star edition. And it turns out like Trey White might have been the star edition you needed and didn't know you had. But at the time, with Williams, it felt like such a perfect fit. Really good offense player, good passer, could work well with, you know, Peterson and Florey, can shoot the three so you could space it. Some of the defensive questions about Williams, you'd at least have like an athletic center next to him with Florey to help kind of cover up some of those things.

Starting point is 00:02:56 It felt like he would have been a really good fit. And KU recruited him hard. It felt like, you know, from all the scuttlebutt, the hearsay that KU was the favorite in the for a while. And then at the last minute, he went to NC State. And who knows what exactly happened there? Was it Williams, you know, not wanting to tarnish a little bit of his time at Texas Tech and go play for, like, did Williams see what happened with Kevin McCuller?

Starting point is 00:03:23 where Texas tech fans were really, really mad and probably are still really, really mad at him and felt like he didn't want to have that legacy tarnished, so to speak. Was there an element of he really liked Will Wade and the NC State program? Obviously, the biggest one that I think most people would point to, and if you haven't already been shouting at me right now, money would probably be the biggest one, right? And it felt like, and Bill Self in one of his most recent press conferences, like he was kind of asked about it, and he said, I'm paraphrasing here, but he said, it's not a hard cap, but you are kind of capped at a certain way, basically saying that, like, they ran out of funds to throw at

Starting point is 00:03:59 him. Like, they, they couldn't take more money from RevShare away from, say, football, for instance, which now looking back after a five and seven season, you're kind of like hindsight 2020. But at the time was probably the right decision. Could you have made it work with NIL? Maybe, but you didn't know what was going to happen with the whole clearinghouse situation. And so he ends up getting more money. It goes to N.C. State. And the rest is history. It makes this game, I think way more interesting from a standpoint of what could have been, but also what KU wound up with, right? Because Trey White has been excellent so far for this point for Kansas. Now, of course, there is a world where Kansas lands Dary and Williams. Williams is starting at the

Starting point is 00:04:38 four. Tray White's starting at the three. Tiller's coming off the bench is this like, you know, super sub big man. And that would be, you know, awesome for KU. But there's also a chance that if you would have added Dary and Williams, that Trey White would have said, hey, now there's less playing time on the wing. There's less playing time at the four. I'm out. I'm going to go find somewhere else for my final season of college basketball. Who knows if that would have happened or not? It's impossible to know the sliding door moments there. But let's say that was to this point. I mean, Williams has been great for NC State so far. But Trey White has fit this Kansas team really well to this point. And I don't know. Like the stats are like White's been a better rebounder than

Starting point is 00:05:22 than Williams to this point in time. Williams has been the better passer. Both are scoring 14, 15, 16 a game. Both have been super efficient in doing so. If Williams goes off in this game and Trey White struggles, it's certainly going to lead to some more shouting of like, how could you not give this guy the money he needed? If Trey White goes off and Williams doesn't have, you know,

Starting point is 00:05:45 one of his best games and KU wins, it's going to be like, wow, that really worked out for Bill Self and KU. And then there's obviously a lot of different storylines in between. But I am just fascinated to see what happens from that area. But again, beyond that, there are other reasons for this one to be important. Like I said, it is a quad one opportunity playing on the road for KU. You're trying to avoid that fourth loss, right? Like if we just go the road and say, Kansas could go 12 and 6 in Big 12 play, which would be a really good record with how good the Big 12 is. And if you go 12 and 6 in Big 12 play, but you lose four games in

Starting point is 00:06:19 non-con, you're a 10-loss team before even the Big 12 tournament. Now, I don't know, what was Texas Tech last year when they got a, what, they get a three seed or were they a two seed? They got a three seed. Texas Tech lost eight games going into the NCAA tournaments. Like, that's close. But I don't know. You don't want to get in that double digit loss range, right? And so this one becomes super important to kind of scave out of that.

Starting point is 00:06:41 And I think it would also represent the biggest win you've had since Peterson has come back. Like, obviously that's always a big storyline. And Bill Self said that he practiced regularly the other day. So I think the expectation is, again, barring that last minute setback that he'll be playing. This would be the biggest win with Peterson in the lineup if you're able to accomplish it. And then beyond all that, like, KU has not been KU on the road in a while. We talk all the time about the invincibility of Allen Fieldhouse, although it hasn't been invincible these last couple years.

Starting point is 00:07:11 But some of the best teams that KU has had, they've been invincible on their home floor. But what they haven't got a lot of credit for, enough credit for when they were winning the Big 12. stuff was that, yeah, sure, they'd go undefeated or maybe lose one game at home, but they'd find a way to go four and five or five and four, six and three on the road in some really tough venues against some tough opponents. And so you look at last year, okay, you loses at Houston in their last road game. They did win at Colorado in their second to last road game, but then look at the road games right before that. You get killed on the road against BYU. You lose to a bad Utah team. You lose to not a great Kansas state team on the road. You lose at Baylor. And then before

Starting point is 00:07:51 that you have a win at TCU but that means that you have let's see one two three four five you've now lost six of your last seven road games obviously counting the north carolina game earlier this year for Kansas to get back to that level of you know I don't know dominance or one of the best teams in the big 12 one of the best teams in the country you got to start winning on the road again and here presents an opportunity in a tough environment against NC state with a good team top 30 team in the country who's going to be, you know, pretty ruckus environment, I would imagine for this one. I don't know. I guess it is a finals weekend or this is finals week, at least for KU.

Starting point is 00:08:27 I don't know for NC State. Maybe a lot of the students will be gone. But still, I'm expecting it to be a ruckus environment against a good team, chance for you show what you are. Let's get to that NC State scouting report. This episode of Lockdown Jayhawks is brought to you by Fandual Sports. But you can get in on the action for KUNC State over a fan. Plus, NFL Sundays move fast, one big play, suddenly everything feels different. That's what making live betting even more exciting with Fanduel.

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Starting point is 00:09:23 or the momentum flips after a turnover. Live spreads adjust, money lines adjust instantly. The playoffs update guys heat up. I mean, shoot, Melvin Council has been a second half guy, right? Like, if you can get in on a Melvin Council, first half under, second half over, you might be liking that. So if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fandwill.com, place your NFL live bets all season long, Fandwell, the game moves fast, and so can you. this episode of the show is also brought to you by rujiet let's talk about something that most men don't bring up but absolutely should stress from work money life it doesn't just switch off at night and when it shows up at the worst possible time ruggiat ready is designed to help you take back control

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Starting point is 00:10:42 Ruggiet ready, 15% off your order. Rougiet ready. feel present, feel confident, feel ready. Thanks again for joining us on Locked on Jayhawks, making us your first listen every day for making Lockdown, the number one sports podcast network. You already live your team every day. Now you can take it up a level.

Starting point is 00:11:01 Go add free, join the Everydayer Club, and get Locked on Jayhawks with no interruptions, members only, discord access, and more, all for just $5 a month or $50 a year. Go to our link at Lockedonpodcast.com slash every dayer, or check the link in the show notes so you can learn more. All right. What does NC State bring to the table?

Starting point is 00:11:21 Seven and three, just like Kansas. They're in year one of the Will Wade era. They're 28th on Ken Palm, 29th on Torvick, so top 30 team. They are top 20 in offense on both. They're top outside the top 50 on defense and both. So similar, different in how they do it, but similar profile to Missouri a little bit. And honestly, both teams like to run. So kind of similar there.

Starting point is 00:11:45 But they have a couple of top 50 wins. They beat VCU by six. They beat Boise State by 11 on a neutral floor. If I am comparing the profile, they are a better version of what Missouri does. They've also lost, and it's on the road. They've also lost their big games so far, some big games. Seedon Hall, Texas, both in Maui. They lost to Auburn.

Starting point is 00:12:03 Two of those three games are by double digits. So the hope is that this would be another one of those, right? You look at the four strengths for NC State. They play fast, top 30. in the country in average possession length offensively, which helps them average 15 fast break points per game. That's 89th percentile nationally. Very good in transition.

Starting point is 00:12:23 That is kind of a will-weighed thing that he does wherever he goes. Efficient offense, their top 15 in the country, effective field goal percentage. They're 97th percentile nationally in true shooting percentage. Obviously, they're getting out and getting some easy buckets off how fast they play, and that's going to allow you to be an efficient offense. But even in the half court, they've been pretty efficient. They're in the 88th percentile in two-point offense, 96th percentile in three-point offense,

Starting point is 00:12:48 and their top 60 nationally in free throw percentage. So they do it at every level. This is a very efficient offense. You have to try to keep out of transition, but just in general, have to be on your P's and Q's. Turnovers is a strength for them on both sides. They don't turn it over, and they force turnovers. That is a good place to be for NC State. That's how they win some extra possessions at both ends.

Starting point is 00:13:10 NC State is in the 80th percentile on steel rate. they're in the 89th percentile in offensive turnover rate. So they avoid turnovers, they get steals. Basically, they win the possession game, right? Defensive rebounding is the other strength here. Ninety-first percentile nationally in defensive rebounding for NC State. So that's going to help you more with that possession game, right? Four weaknesses for NC State.

Starting point is 00:13:32 Defense, just in general, would be one. They're 188th in the country, an effective field goal percentage defense. They're in the 42nd percentile nationally and true shooting percentage defense. So below average and both, they are also 177th in the country in two-point defense. They are 204th in the country in three-point defense. This has not been a great defense so far for Will Wade and NC State, though they do force turnovers. They have really struggled in transition defense as well.

Starting point is 00:13:59 That's been another weakness here. They're in just the 24th percentile in fast break points allowed per game. That means three-quarters of college basketball is doing better at preventing less fast-break points. They're also in just the 16th percentile. the percentage of points that they allow coming via the fast break. And it's even worse than their bigger games. So if I just narrow down the competition to the top 120 Ken Palm opponents that they played,

Starting point is 00:14:23 which I mentioned VCU and Boise and Seton Hall in Texas and Auburn, it also includes a recent blowout of a pretty solid Liberty team and UAB is just outside the top 100. There's a good sample size of games against teams they've played in the Kenpom top 120. Well, in those games, they are giving up 14.4 fast break. points per game. That would rank 330th in the country. Kansas has been pretty good when they try to score in transition. This should be a game where you get a lot of transition buckets. This also has not been a great offensive rebounding team for NC State, good on the defensive

Starting point is 00:14:58 end, not great offensive rebounding, just 228th nationally there. And then the last weakness here is they foul too much. They're 317th in the country in free throw rate defense. They're in just the 23rd percentile in free throw attempts allowed per game. Players to watch here, we'll start with Kansas. Darren Peterson, crazy, I know, right? 20 points per game, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.4 stocks per game. He's shooting 54, 44, 43, 82 splits. It's 54 from the field, 43 from 3 and 82 at the foul line.

Starting point is 00:15:30 Had a bit of rust in the Missouri game still, you know, the points per minute efficiency is really good for what he's putting up, but maybe not quite as efficient in terms of the shooting percentages we saw in the first couple games. Maybe now that he shook the rust off, maybe now that you had more time in between to Prack, I don't want to say like we're waiting for him to go off because he kind of has gone off every time we've seen him. It's just in more limited minutes. I think we're all waiting for the first 30-point game.

Starting point is 00:15:56 It feels like that's coming sooner than later. Can it be this one? Why not? And then Trey White, 14.3 points per game, 7.1 rebounds on 53, 45, 82. He's been excellent. We talked about the storyline with him and Darian Williams coming into this. game. I'm going to be interested to, just from his speed perspective and Darian Williams at the four, what's going to be better? Is it going to be better KU to play too big with

Starting point is 00:16:19 Bryson Tiller? Or is it going to be better for KU and this one to play more of Trey White at the four and match up kind of small against NC State speed? I could see the advantages of that. I mean, I also, though, look back to the Arkansas game that Arkansas was the team Texas Tech played in the suite 16. If you remember last year's Arkansas team, ran a two big lineup. They were running Brazil, like at the four, and then they had like a Vsich or, I don't know, they had a bunch of, you know, size down low.

Starting point is 00:16:47 They were basically running the two big lineups. And even though Williams in that game hit the biggest shot of the game, he hit the three that sent it to overtime and super clutch, he went to eight of 26. That's 30% in that game. So maybe you could bother him with some size. I think that's a possibility. So I'll be interested to see what the play is,

Starting point is 00:17:05 but regardless, look for Trey White. It'll be fun to watch him and important, especially let's go to the NC State players to watch Dary and Williams, right? Williams is leading NC State in points per game, 15.9. He is second on the team in rebounds per game, 5.1, and assists per game at 3.4. And he's shooting 52 from the field, 47 from 3 and 85 at the foul lines. So he's been excellent so far for NC State, especially on the offensive end of the floor. And just going back to that storyline, I think it makes it all the more intriguing. The other guy to watch, Francie's day, they've got like six players averaging.

Starting point is 00:17:40 It's like nine point something points or basically close to double figures or above. Paul McNeil is one of those, 11.6 points per game, 4.1 rebounds. He's 6.5. He'll play the three. He'll play the two. He's shooting 36% from three. They have other players on this team that are shooting a higher percentage. But when you look at the volume is where it becomes really impressive, 36% is still a solid number.

Starting point is 00:18:01 But he leads the team in made threes. He has 23 of them. Williams is second with 21. and he has 18 more three-point attempts than anyone else on the team. So overall, you look at NC State has been an elite shooting team so far. If you want to try to slow that down, that probably starts with slowing down Williams and McNeil from the three-point line because those are their top two in terms of three-pointers made so far this season.

Starting point is 00:18:24 Let's get to the keys of the game for KU to try to find a way to win. Our player matchup of the game, Hawks the Sword, this is locked on Jayhawks. today's episode of the show is brought to you by aura frames the holidays are officially here which means gift hunting season is on and if you want something meaningful personal and guaranteed to get a reaction aura frames is the gift that delivers every time it's not just something you wrap it's a way to share memories because aura isn't your average picture frame you can preload the frame with photos before gift in it so when you plug it in the memories are already there no apps to figure it out no set up headaches just instant smiles

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Starting point is 00:19:53 All right, Keys to a Kansas win against NC State. Let's start here. KU. Key to the offensive side of the ball. they get the ball inside. It's easier said than done. NC state really good of force and turnovers. A lot of times getting the ball inside can lead to more turnovers. And here's where the rub is. NC state is 0 in 3 this season when they allow a 2 point of 60% or higher. They're 7 and 0 when teams shoot under that marks from 2. So that in its own tells you the importance. But it's also, like I said, easier said than done to get there because NC state ranks in the top 15

Starting point is 00:20:23 nationally in preventing shots at the rim. They're not giving up many shots. at the rim, right? And again, those turnovers, they do a good job denying it. They do a good job walling off from getting there. If you can get there, it's almost like a castle that has like all their warriors on the outside and has like the best moat. And it's like, oh, you're never going to get into the castle, you know, 100 foot high walls. But if you can get over the walls, if you can get past the moat, if you can get past all the guards, there's no guards, there's no protection on the inside. NC State is 324th in the country in at the rim defense.

Starting point is 00:21:01 So they're not giving up a lot of shots there, but when they are, they're going in. So if you can find a way to methodically work the ball inside, you can get them to go in at a high rate. And that's going to be the key on the offense van, is doing that without turning the ball over. The KU defense in this one, defend in transition and guard the three ball. So NC State takes a ton of above the break threes, and they're shooting like 40% on three this year so you got to defend the three ball obviously but also defending in transition this team that wants to score in transition a lot and we already talked about earlier they've struggled

Starting point is 00:21:33 in transition defense so if you can slow them down even a little bit in transition you should be able to get some transition points yourself and if you can turn what usually for them is a strength into a downside into something that you wind up with an advantage i mean right you're taking away somebody's best thing and turning it into weakness right that would obviously be a great goal of the KU defense, make them play as much half-court offense against your really good defense as you possibly can. Our player matchup here is, is it going to be Darren Williams, Tray White? No, it's not, despite all the storylines just because, I don't know, it's going to be Williams and Tiller, is it going to be Williams and White? We're going to go Darren Peterson versus

Starting point is 00:22:13 Quedier Copeland. Copeland's been really good for NC State this year, 14 points, five assists per game. He's shooting 61% from the floor. He's also 10 of 18 from three, so a little bit lower volume, but he's hit him in a very high rate. And what's interesting is Copeland is a six-foot-six kind of wing lead guard type. How often does he go up against another lead guard type, though, who is around his height? Peterson at 6-5 with a 6-10, nearly 6-11 wingspan. I'd imagine they're going to be guarding each other. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:22:40 Maybe you have counsel guard him and just try to get into his grill a little bit. But at the very least, it'll be very interesting matchup. And does Copeland guard Peterson with his length and defensive ability? you look at Copeland overall he's a very key cog in transition right when you're six six and you can handle the ball that's going to give teams problems in transition so that that becomes important there but can Peterson have kind of a takeover game for kU to win on the road can he have 30 points right i think that'd be super helpful obviously duh for kU to try to win this game but i think that's two really good players going at each other and uh our player matchup

Starting point is 00:23:13 the game all right hawks the sore k u player i think is set up to maybe have a big game here um we mentioned this earlier in the weaknesses for NC State, they foul too much. Again, 317th in the country in free throw rate defense, 200 or 23rd percentile in free throw attempts allowed per game. Well, you know who gets fouled a lot for Kansas? We did this earlier this week in our surprising stats. Thank you the everydayers who already caught it. And if you haven't, go back and check it out. That Trey White is one of the best 99th percentile in terms of getting shooting fouls per game. and you combine that with NC State's proclivity to foul. Could this be a game where Trey White gets 8, 10, 12 free throws in a specific game, right?

Starting point is 00:23:56 And then you also look at it. Okay, we go back to NC State has struggled a bit in transition defense. So actually, Melvin Council is, so I guess we could say Melvin Council is a hawk to sore as well. Melvin Council is leading KU and transition points. He has 20 of them. He's gone perfect 10 of 10 on transition 2s. He's 0 for 2 on 3s, 10 of 10 on 2s in transition. But second on the team in transition points is Trey White.

Starting point is 00:24:19 Trey White has 17 of them. He's seven for seven on transition twos. And then he's also hit one of his three transition threes. So he's good to get into the foul line. He's good at scoring in transition. Both of those things are things NZ-Stata struggled with. And I don't know, maybe added motivation with the Dary and Williams storyline. Trey White will be our Hawk to soar.

Starting point is 00:24:37 That'll do it for this episode of Lockdown, Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. Don't forget as well, if you have Locked on Jayhawks on your Spotify wrapped, you can prove it on social media and secure a free month of our brand new Everydayer Club. Just tag our Locked-on podcast network account on any social platform and we'll drop you a code. Be one of the first to join the Everydayer Club and get your favorite show ad-free and exclusive app access to the members-only Discord channel. And for those of you on video, 24-7 National Lockdown Podcast Network YouTube channel next or on audio, make sure to make Lockdown College. basketball or locked on college football your second listen every day see you next time for

Starting point is 00:25:18 a k uncc state recap postcast episode over the weekend right here on lockton jhawks

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - KANSAS VS NC STATE | Will Darrion Williams Transfer Twist Lead Wolfpack by Tre White & the Jayhawks?

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