Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Locked On Jayhawks - 11.27.19

Episode Date: November 27, 2019

KU stifles BYU, advances to Maui title game Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up Jayhawk Nation? Welcome in to this Wednesday edition of Locked On Jayhawks. I am Sean Kellerman, Learfield IMG College Broadcaster and University of Kansas Insider. This is Locked On Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, giving you insight, numbers, and a chance to hear from all the voices within Kansas athletics. Back-to-back wins now for KU in the last two days, and they will indeed take on Dayton in the championship game a little bit later today in the Maui Gym Maui Invitational. KU knocked off BYU yesterday 71-56, and during the show today we'll go over the game, we'll recap that in the first segment. Second segment we'll hear from Bill Self and a couple KU players, their thoughts on the game and KU's stifling defense. And then in the final segment, we will preview the Dayton Flyers and Obi Toppin, a potential

National Player of the Year candidate. So Dayton, they had a couple big-time wins, of course, defeating Georgia handily, 80-61, and then they had no problems with Virginia Tech. So how about that? A mid-major disposing of Georgia by 19, and then the Virginia Tech game was 89-62 in favor of the Flyers, a very pro-Dayton crowd at the Lahaina Center in Maui. So Kansas and BYU were set to do battle, and the one thing that the Jayhawks knew was that BYU was going to shoot the ball. They shot 62% from the field against UCLA in their win in the opening round a couple nights ago.

But what we noticed from BYU early, at least what I noticed, and some of the guys talked about it after the game, this game was very up and down the court. And I was sitting there watching the game thinking, if BYU wants to run with the Jayhawks, they are going to regret that. And I think you could tell kind of as the game went on that they started to wear down. The team not as quick, not as deep as Kansas and both of those factors for the Jayhawks really paid off in getting Kansas the win and advancing to the championship game.

So it was very fast paced early. Bill Self would talk after the game about how it kind of reminded him of a Big Ten game where you felt like both teams had a chance to get 80 or 90 points, and then that wasn't the case at all. Kansas tried to do what they do and establish their size inside, and they also got out in transition in the first half. David McCormick got the start again for the Jayhawks, and again, he had some great moves inside. He was present in both halves. Despite playing just 20 minutes, David ended up with 16 points. At halftime, kind of the story was, where's the offense for Kansas, right? It was 29-27,

and this is a game where the over-under was 147, so you're expecting this game to be in the mid-to-upper 70s, but 29-27 is where we stood. David had 8, Ochai and Devon both had 7. Kansas did establish their paints. Of course, they turned it over some, and they struggled a little bit shooting the ball, but 16-6 Kansas led at the break in terms of points in the paint. Jayhawks were just 2-9 threes, and BYU was 5-17.

We knew this team was going to be shooting a lot from deep, and that they did. I have written down in my notes for halftime notes that KU was missing shots, turning it over, and just not complimentary on offense. Just still looking to find a way to get the puzzle pieces to fit, and that's going to be an ongoing battle for Kansas, especially when you've got three bigs who maybe don't necessarily play complementary to each other, and we've gotten to a point now where they're rarely on the court more than one of them at a time. All right, so Kansas comes out in the second half, and they continue with their stifling defense. That's what really impressed me about the game, and that's the story of this game.

KU playing their suffocating defense, and they take Jake Toulson, BYU's best player, out of the game. The majority of this game, BYU could not get near the bucket, and that's what eventually gave KU a little breathing room in this game. Marcus Garrett hit a big-time three to put the Jayhawks up 38-31. The Cougars on the other side missed their first five threes of the second half, so they could not cut into the lead at all. Kansas eventually extended the lead to 42-31 after an Ochai-Abaji three, and KU was off and running. Kansas eventually got up by 13. It was Ochai under the basket, a second chance opportunity.

And eventually that lead got all the way up to 19 after an Isaiah Moss steal and basket 54-35. So BYU in this game, the first 12.5 minutes of the second half, scored just 7 points, 54 to 35. Kansas completely dominated with their defense, and everybody got involved. KU, despite struggling a little bit shooting the ball again, they were able to spread it around, and four different guys were in double figures for the Jayhawks. David McCormick led

the Hawks with 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting. Like I said, he had just 20 minutes of action in this game. Ochai Abadji, Coach Self said after the game, he thinks that was maybe the best game that Ochai had played, even though the first seven BYU points were scored off Och. He ended up with 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting, including 2 of 4 from 3. Devon Dotson had 13 points next in line for KU scoring. He did shoot just 5 of 16 from the field. No luck in 3 attempts from beyond the arc. He was 3 of 3 from the free throw line, so not Devon's most efficient game. But after his coach kind of called him out for only having one assist in the opener against Chaminade, Devon dished out eight assists against BYU last night. Other Jayhawk in double

figures was a double-double. Doka's bookie, he had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and one ferocious dunk in transition. We'll hear Doka's thoughts on that dunk next segment, but Doak had what eventually was ruled a steal on a closeout attempt from TJ Hawes on a three that was about to go up at the end of the shot clock Doak jumped up and needless to say he contested the shot you're used to hearing a whistle every single time but it didn't happen and Doak ended up with the ball and he ended up with nothing but hardwood in front of him because he dribbled very carefully down the court before he threw down the dunk with two hands. That was a fun sight to see. Other Jayhawks, Marcus Garrett, seven points, six boards, three assists, and two steals. An absolute, another incredible performance defensively

as Marcus Garrett completely took Toulson, like I said, out of the game. Toulson had seven points on three of nine shooting, one of five from three, and really it was all about denying for this. You know that this BYU team likes to cut a lot on offense. Man, they could not get much going at all. It was a lot of TJ Hawes just dribbling around KU's defense trying to find an opening and KU was not having it. So Kansas completely dominates BYU in this one as they win 71 to 56. Other stats that are not surprising, Kansas continues to put up numbers in the paint, points in the paint, 42 for Kansas. That's three straight games of 40 or more. They're getting that production that we've not seen in

years past in the paint because Kansas has not had their big man. They're getting that production that we've not seen in years past in the paint because Kansas has not had their big man. They haven't had the size and the depth that they have this year. So that's good to see. So the Jayhawks win it. They advance to take on Dayton today in the championship game, 4 p.m. Central tip. Looking forward to that one.

And next segment, we'll hear from Bill Self and KU players. They'll talk about Dayton, and they'll talk about how good the defense was in this victory over BYU. With Roman, you can get a free online evaluation and ongoing care for ED, all from the comfort and privacy of your home. Just go to GetRoman.com to get a free online visit and free two-day shipping. If you can't visit Roman right now, you can find this and all other offers from Locked On sponsors at LockedOnPodcasts.com.

This is LockedOn Jayhawks, a product of the LockedOn Podcast Network, the local experts on the biggest stories. Three other college basketball games featuring Big 12 teams last night. We'll start in Kansas City where the Hall of Fame Classic at Sprint Center, Oklahoma defeated Missouri as the Tigers lose their third in a row. Oklahoma 77, Missouri 66. OU again got a big game from Austin Reeves, one of four Sooners in double figures. He had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Did the transfer from Wichita State. Brady Manick chipped in 17. He hit four threes as the Sooners up in Mizzou. West Virginia, they got a bit of a battle from UNI. In fact, UNI led this game late,

but Mountaineers came back and won it 60-55, So that's a good comeback win for Jermaine Haley and company. Haley had 10 points and 7 boards. Miles McBride actually led the way for West Virginia with 18 points as they complete the comeback victory. And completing the perfect night for the Big 12 was TCU. They defeated Wyoming 64-47. Desmond Bain, preseason All-Big 12 conference pick. He had 22 points and 11 rebounds, a double-double for Desmond Bain, preseason all-Big 12 conference pick. He had 22 points and 11 rebounds,

a double-double for Desmond Bain. Tonight's action, there's a lot going on. In fact, a game already underway is Iowa State and Michigan. They're playing at Paradise Island in the Bahamas. K-State is taking on Bradley in Fort Myers, Florida. Oklahoma State battles Syracuse in the NIT tip-off in Brooklyn, that game at 6.30, and West Virginia, Wichita State, that game in Cancun at 7.30. So a lot of great college basketball games going on today, and of course tomorrow there's going to be a couple games as well. Iowa State is going to take on either Alabama or North Carolina, depending on what happens in that battle for Atlantis in the Bahamas. And Texas Tech is in Vegas.

They're going to host Iowa. They're officially the home team, but that game is going to be played in Las Vegas at the Continental Tire at Las Vegas Classic. We'll recap those games on Friday's show. Again, no show tomorrow, but on Friday's show, we'll recap the action for men's basketball, these early season tournaments that are going on this week. And then, of course, final week, the regular season, Big 12 football. We'll preview those Friday as well.

So, again, no show tomorrow, but we'll check in on Friday and get you set for everything that's going on in the weekend of Big 12 sports. Of course, the Jayhawks last night, they defeated BYU in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational 71-56. Jayhawks will take on Dayton in the championship round today. Tip is at four from the Leinick Civic Center. Jayhawks did it with their defense. That goes without saying. That was really the story. The story went from why can't Kansas execute offensively in the first half to, wow, Kansas defense is not allowing anything for BYU in the second half.

That was really the story kind of came to light the second half was that BYU couldn't even get near the basket. So that was big time. Here's Yudoka Azubuki after the game talking about KU's defense. We played a really good defense today. I mean, I'm proud of my team, my teammates, and everybody. We really locked in today and played outstanding defense. We listened to coach instruction in terms of downing the ball.

So we got to do a better job of rebounding the ball. But apart from that, I think we did a solid job on defensive end. David McCormick also echoed Doak's sentiments and talked about how he's really happy with the defense. I definitely feel like we did a great job defensively as well. Like Coach said, I think we just got hit in the mouth first at the start of the game, and then we realized what we need to do. We need to hone in and just really defend and stick to our principles,

and that's what we did, and that's how we forced those turnovers and got steals and things like that to translate into our offensive game. The Kansas defense certainly has been doing great in the last couple of games. How about this? 27 turnovers for Chaminade and 20 turnovers for BYU. It wasn't even the turnovers that was that impressive last night. It was just the stifling defense. I know I've mentioned it a couple times, but that was the story,

getting hands in passing lanes, denying any shots, particularly from BYU's top scorer in Jake Toulson. You know, we know BYU was not at full strength. They didn't have Ueli Childs, who's a preseason top 50 Wooden Award watch list player, and he's a guy who could be playing in the NBA very soon. He actually tested the waters, and that led to the whole nine-game suspension so that he doesn't get to play at the Mount Invitational. But he is with the team.

BYU missing him, but they've got a lot of guards. They certainly had no problem shooting well against UCLA, and it was a big-time problem against our Jayhawks last night. Norm Roberts last night talked to Learfield IMG College and spoke about David McCormick and the bigs in general and how he's happy with them. I think he's doing great. You know, it's one of those things when he catches and he goes,

he's very effective. It's one way. We're all three of our big guys. We have to play to our strengths, and our strengths are being a power player, being strong and physical and posting deep and getting angles and attacking the glass. Those things are in love.

When we do those things, we're very, very effective. Love cheering for Big Dave. He's like a fan favorite in every sense because he tries so hard. He's so well-spoken. He's such a kind, good-hearted kid. And my still favorite memory of David McCormick is when he announced he was coming to Kansas. He had a button-down shirt, and he ripped it open,

and he had a Kansas t-shirt underneath. I loved that out of David. He loves being here. Man, he's just fighting for every minute, and he's taking full advantage of every opportunity that he gets. Another guy who Kansas is happy to have, Yudoka Azebuki. He had the double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. We didn't get to see this very much from Doak last year because he was out the majority of the season. It's great to have him back putting up double doubles. And how about that dunk in

transition where Doak had nothing, no defenders behind him. He had a clean shot at the basket. He took full advantage with a two-hand dunk. And here's Big Doak talking about the big dunk. Yeah, I got it. I think I got the steal and then I told the ref was gonna call like foul or something but he didn't call the foul so I just like kind of like just took the ball I mean we walk every day in practice we walk on dribbling the ball and all that stuff so that kind of helped me a little bit and you know I just saw the front of the rim and I just dunked it. That's Yudoka Azubuki talking about his breakaway dunk which is I believe the

first we've ever seen out of doke and it may be the last time we ever see it too but it was a good close out by tj hawes and he on tj hawes and doke did not foul him he ended up getting what they credited as a steal it was kind of a block steal hybrid but doke picked it up looked behind him and realized that he was all alone and threw it down. One of the highlights, the many highlights last night in the 15-point victory over BYU. So KU beats Chaminade 93-63. They beat BYU 71-56, and now it's on to Dayton, a team who has two blowout wins in this tournament over Georgia and Virginia Tech.

We'll talk more about the Flyers. We'll hear from Bill Self and another clip from Norm Roberts after the break as well. This is Locked On Jayhawks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. No NBA games last night featured Jayhawks, but there are a bunch going on tonight, highlighted by the Pistons at the Hornets.

That's a reunion for Sfee McIluke and Devontae Graham. That's taking place today at 6. McIluke, as well as Markeith Morris, members of the Detroit Pistons, and of course, Dite has been excellent for the Hornets all year. Other games in action, Joel Embiid trying to bounce back from a very poor performance. No points in 32 minutes his last time out. 76ers host the Kings tonight at 6.

Marcus Morris and the Knicks travel to Toronto at 6.30. And the Rockets are in action with Ben McLemore at 7 o'clock hosting the Heat. Andrew Wiggins and the T-Wolves travel to San Antonio to take on the Spurs at 7.30. A couple KU players, former KU players, player for the Suns, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Shaq Diallo, they host the Wizards at 8 o'clock. That's a look at your Jayhawks in the NBA. Of course, Friday there will be games as well, but we'll recap and let you know how those guys did on Friday's show.

No show tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody out there. And the Jayhawks are hoping that it's going to be a happy Thanksgiving for them as they are set to take on the Dayton Flyers. Not really the matchup that people were thinking this Maui Invitational Championship game would show, but that's where we're at, as Dayton had no problem beating Georgia and Virginia Tech, the team that took down Michigan State. Michigan State, of course, lost to Virginia Tech, and then yesterday they picked up a win over Georgia, so now Michigan State will have a chance to take fifth place in this tournament, but man, what a crazy college

basketball season it's already been. You know,igan state loss it was an upset but it wasn't pales in comparison basically to the upsets that we've seen how about last night a guy that was on bill self staff for a while kyle keller and steven f austin they take down the number one team in the country duke at cameron indoor stadium that's an unranked team taking down Duke, which is something that rarely, if ever, happens at Cameron indoors. So awfully impressive, happy for Stephen F. Austin. It was the biggest upset in Division I in 15 years, and for Duke, their first non-conference loss at home since 2000. Duke was 27.5 point favorites, and they were up 15 in that game. Other notable upsets recently, Gardner-Webb in 2007 was plus 26. They defeated Kentucky.

Western Illinois defeated Wisconsin despite being 25.5 point underdogs in 2015. Evansville, earlier this year, 25 point underdogs. They go into Rupp Arena and take out Kentucky. And of course, Wofford a couple years back, some people will probably remember that, Wofford, the Terriers, they were plus 25. They defeated North Carolina in 2017 in Chapel Hill. So it's kind of become that way in college basketball nowadays, right? With so many guys going to the NBA, so many guys opting to play overseas. It's kind of like the smaller schools, you know, how big is the difference now between the talent and the depth at some of the smaller schools? A lot of the mid-majors to the top,

and we've already seen two number one teams in the country already this year, it's not even December yet, lose at home to unranked mid-major opponents. They're just crazy in college basketball. Well, speaking of mid-majors, it's Dayton tonight for the Jayhawks, and it's a championship opportunity. KU looking for their sixth consecutive in-season tournament championship. And here are some of the numbers for Dayton. Well, actually, before we get into that, let's look at who they've beaten. They're 5-0 this year. They haven't played the greatest schedule up to Maui. The toughest test they had in terms of score was Indiana State.

Dayton won that 86-81. Charleston Southern, Dayton defeated 90-61. And then the Flyers over Omaha, 93-68. Then, of course, the 80-61 victory in the quarterfinals of the Maui Gym Maui Invitational over Georgia. An 89-62 yesterday. Impressive win over Virginia Tech. to 61 victory in the quarterfinals of the Maui Gym Maui Invitational over Georgia and 89 to 62 yesterday impressive win over Virginia Tech so one thing you've noticed from all those scores Dayton scores a lot of points they average 88 points per game they're shooting 56 percent from the field now five games it's a relatively small sample size but still 56 percent as a team 36

percent from beyond the arc the Flyers have five guys who have attempted at least 15 threes this season, so that's going to be something that KU is going to have to key in on later today. Plus 5.4 rebounding margin, and they dish out 20 assists per game. A pretty good number, and it makes sense when you're scoring so many points. Led by Obi Toppin. He is a guy who could potentially be a lottery pick in the NBA draft. He's shooting 72% from the field, 53% from three. He averages 24 points and 8.2 rebounds per game does Toppin. Rodney Chapman, Jalen Crutcher, and Ryan Mikesell all average at least 11 points a game as well.

They're all shooting better than 40% from the field, and all of them shoot threes. So those are some of the top guys to look out for for KU. We're probably going to see four guards yet again. It's just kind of how this bracket has turned out. Had Kansas faced UCLA or Michigan State, we'd probably see more of the two big looks. Kansas likely is going to go with two bigs to start, as they've been doing the majority of this season. But then early in the game, Coach Self has kind of transitioned to having just one of those bigs out there, and we can see that again happening tonight

against a tough Dayton team that has a lot of athleticism, a lot of guards, and Obi Toppin is going to be a tough stretch four to guard because he's going to have some size over Marcus Garrett, even though Marcus has proven that he can defend anybody. And, of course, he'll be able to stretch it, which proves to be a challenge for Doak, David, Silvio, whoever's going to be out there guarding him, of course. So that game is at 4 o'clock,

and here's Bill Self talking about Obi Toppin, Dayton's best player, and the Flyers in general. They've got the best college basketball player in the tournament, in this tournament. And that doesn't mean our guys can't play better but when you look at their guy I mean he's he's 6'9 and can do everything and he's an athlete can shoot threes and everything else so it'll be a it'll be a challenge for us but uh uh it should be a fun game it'll be a very defensive oriented slugfest obviously it jumps out at you what coach

self says right there the best college basketball player in the tournament in OB Toppin. It's hard to argue with the numbers that he's putting up. But how about Coach saying that it's going to be a defensive slugfest? That's going to be interesting. Something to watch because of all those numbers. I mean, go through them again really quickly. But the games for Dayton, all of which have been wins, 5-0 for the Flyers, 86, 90, 93, 80, and 89 are the amount of points that the Flyers have put up.

Impressive numbers. Should be a fun one. Looking forward to it, and we'll recap this game on Friday. Of course, no show tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. Hopefully we're bringing home another in-season championship, bringing that back to Lawrence, and then kind of get set. Kansas will not play until Saturday, December 7th, after today's game. So enjoy it. Have a great holiday with your family. We'll talk with you

on Friday. This is Locked On Jayhawks, a product of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And Rock Chalk, Jayhawk.