Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - RECAP: Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Survives & Advances Past Samford Bulldogs 93-89 in NCAA Tournament

Starting point is 00:00:00 survive and advance. It's an old cliche, but you can't really describe it better in how Kansas was able to get by Samford. 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 00:00:26 I'm Derek Johnson. Give me a follow on social media at D Johnson radio. You can find our show here with locked on Jayhawks, anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like, and subscribe to the show. And on today's edition of locked on Jayhawks, we are recapping Kansas escaping against Sanford, surviving and advancing as the old cliche goes,

Starting point is 00:00:46 moving on to the second round of the NCAA tournament after things got a little bit wild late into the night on Thursday night. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by Nissan. Are you the kind of driver that likes to push things a little bit further? Ever wonder what adventure could be around the next corner? Take the Nissan Rogue, Nissan Pathfinder, or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure. Check them all out today at NissanUSA.com. Kansas wins 93-89.

Starting point is 00:01:15 Honestly, like one of the better games of the tournament. The Kentucky game was wild. You had the upset factor, too. That was an unbelievable game. This was probably one of the two or three best games. I don't know. Maybe it was the best if you look at just high scoring and everything, but it was certainly up there just from like a neutral perspective. I think probably a lot of

Starting point is 00:01:31 neutral fans or opposing fans not happy with the way it finished and maybe deservedly so with the way things came at the end, but huge exhale for Kansas survive and advance incarnate. And, you know, sometimes that's all you need to start off a run. I remember that Auburn team from 2019 that made a final four. They barely survived to New Mexico state in the first round in like five, 12 matchup. And they went on. Now this is a little bit different in the sense of like, I don't know,

Starting point is 00:01:55 maybe it's not that different. Cause I think Auburn was up maybe double digits late in that one. This should have never gotten here. This should have never gotten to the point where Kansas needed to survive late. But then again, sometimes this weird stuff just does happen in March Madness. So maybe you find yourself lucky that you were able to come out on the winning end of something where there was weird stuff going on. Because a lot of the ways that balls were bouncing or balls falling off the rim and in were not really going your way.

Starting point is 00:02:19 Now, before we get into the recap of everything here, we get to our goats of the game. And next up for KU, let's just address the elephant in the room. Let's rip the Band-Aid off right now. The foul that was called against Nick Timberlake at the end of the game, Kansas up 90-89. They break the press. They throw the ball deep to Nick Timberlake.

Starting point is 00:02:38 He goes up for the dunk instead of just trying to lay it in or try to run out clock, get fouled, whatever ends up happening. And, you know, honestly, kind of similar to Kansas playing Purdue in 2012, in 2012 right in the second round like you have taishan taylor and elijah johnson kind of hooking up and uh you could have had a situation where it was like well maybe just just lay it in or run it out and get fouled or something you end up going for the shot and make it in this case you didn't make it you get blocked from behind but they call a foul it was the wrong call it was not the correct call it was a clean block. So let's just address that right now. But I don't want to hamper on this.

Starting point is 00:03:09 The discourse is going to be so annoying over this, over the next, whatever, 48 hours, 24 hours, because a couple of things. One, we always do this. We hamper on the last call at the end of the game, whatever ends up being, and we don't hamper on the rest of the calls during the game. Weird stuff happens. Do we really think that number 21 on Sanford took four charges over the course of the game,

Starting point is 00:03:31 offensive fouls on just random inbound plays? Were all of those the right call? I don't know. Probably not. Like there's so many things you can go that maybe didn't get called against Kansas that maybe did get called against Kansas that didn't get called against Sanford that didn't get called against Sanford over the course of the game that it's unfortunate that it does end like that and it was the wrong call but I don't want to really hamper more on this so let's just move

Starting point is 00:03:53 on from there um the first 30 minutes of this game was all about excellent execution minus some dumb turnovers by Kansas there were still dumb dumb turnovers, the 10-second call, throwing the ball out of bounds, or low at somebody who can't catch it. Those were things that were still happening. But still, Kansas was in a position where it was like, okay, they're playing really well. They're executing well. I think at one point, Sanford was like 7 of 21 from 3,

Starting point is 00:04:20 which gladly we're taking them shooting 33% from 3, I guess, especially because the way they finished, I think they finished, what would that be? Nine of 16 from three point range. So, I mean, you look at that perspective, like you're executing well there, you're breaking the press when you're not turning it over and it's leading to easy buckets for you. Like there was even a point in the first, I mean, Kansas was like, what, like 11 of 12 or something to start the game and even then when Kansas was shooting you know 70 80 90 percent from the floor it didn't feel fluky like it didn't feel like oh this is this has to come down from down to earth

Starting point is 00:04:56 like yes it was going to come down to earth a little bit you weren't going to continue to go 11 of 12 every 12 shots but it didn't feel fluky because it was like oh you're getting layups and dunks and you're getting wide open threes. Like you're breaking the press. You're executing it. Well, you're getting open shots. You're pounding the ball inside. You're taking advantage of your size advantage. It didn't feel fluky at all. Like the first 30 minutes were great execution by KU. I'm sure the week in between and the time off and everything played out well for Kansas and Samford would hit the occasional three along the way, but you know, you were up 10 20 most of the way then the final I don't know what it was eight minutes 10 minutes whatever it was in the game maybe the execution dropped a little bit from Kansas and I think you

Starting point is 00:05:34 just tip the cap to Samford a little bit too like they played great over the last stretch of that game they went bonkers from three yes there were several threes they hit that were wide open that was poor defense by Kansas. Again, this is kind of the season-long thing. Kansas gives up too many open threes, and they get burned by them, but Kansas also gets burned by contested threes. That was something that was happening too in this game. Samford was making plays for the game.

Starting point is 00:06:00 Samford finished 16 of 37 on three-point shots. That's 43% compared to Kansas going six of 18 or 33%. Certainly, if I would have said Thursday morning, doing my game preview, talking about Kansas, can they defend the three-point line, all this sort of stuff. If I would have said Samford shot 16 of 37 from three-point range, 43% while Kansas went six of 18. I mean, I would have certainly thought Samford would have won this game.

Starting point is 00:06:32 Now, I don't know if that makes you feel better or worse moving forward. Just a quick aside here. Like, maybe it makes you feel a little bit better moving forward from one standpoint where it's like, hey, we survived another team going bonkers from three, and we still won the game. Like, that's a good sign. What are the chances that happens again? Then again, we've seen a lot of games this year for Kansas where that has happened for the opposition where it's like well if it just happened what's the chances it happens again next game because Gonzaga just went bonkers from three against McNeese State in the first round so

Starting point is 00:06:56 like I don't know if that makes you feel better or worse moving forward but um Sanford also nearly won not just because the three-point shooting but because of rebounding and turnovers like to a certain standpoint this game was reminiscent of the West Virginia game, where it was like West Virginia went off shooting the ball, but Kansas could have still won that game in Morgantown earlier this year if they would have rebounded better and made some small plays down the stretch a little bit better. And against Samford, that was kind of a similar thing. Like as much as the three-point shooting was critical for Samford getting back in the game and nearly winning the game, Samford also had an 18-7 turnover advantage.

Starting point is 00:07:33 They had 11 less turnovers than you did. I mean, you didn't force many, and you had way too many dumb ones. And so they were plus 11 there. You look at the total rebounds and yeah kansas said 44 rebounds samford had 35 you're like oh kansas won the rebound battle not quite because when you look at okay uh kansas is maybe getting up less shots that end with defensive rebounds when you have the 11 more turnovers you know like all of a sudden uh you look at samford being up 14 to 8 in offensive rebounds that are giving them extra tries,

Starting point is 00:08:06 and a lot of those offensive rebounds are going to lead to open threes afterwards. You consider all that, it's almost like a miracle that Kansas won when you look at those three stats. Samford went off from three. Kansas had a pedestrian day from three. That's all one stat with three-point shooting. Kansas minus 11 in turnovers. And Samford honestly won the rebounding battle.

Starting point is 00:08:29 When you look at, like, rebound rate, you still won the game. I don't know how it happened. So how did they win? Well, Kansas won again by breaking the press. Good execution. DeJuan Harris and others handling the ball across the press, pounding the ball inside, taking advantage of their height. Kansas shot 73% on two-point

Starting point is 00:08:46 shots compared to Sanford shooting 39 percent on two-point shots all of those other things nearly made up for that fact that Kansas was so dominant on the interior and a big reason why you get a lot of open dunks and layups once you break the press that was kind of what the game boiled down to so bottom line you know a four-point win, if this game happens in the regular season, we're sitting here going, okay, that's great, Kansas won, but that's not great moving forward that this, this, and that happened, right? And to a certain standpoint, it is.

Starting point is 00:09:16 And to a certain standpoint, you know, Bill Self and Kansas are going to use some of the stuff that happened at the end of the game and maybe lack of execution here or there or messing this or that up and be like, Hey, we need to correct this going into the next game. Right. But we're also in the aftermath here.

Starting point is 00:09:29 How much can you really correct at this point in time? You kind of are what you are. So at this point it becomes a little bit less about, Hey, let's analyze what they did wrong. Can they get better? This is just who they are. Find a way to survive in advance.

Starting point is 00:09:44 That's all this is about at this point find a way to survive in advance that's all this is about at this point in time it's no longer you know nitpick this or that it really is once you get to the tournament more just about did you win did you lose is your season alive is your season over and their season is alive and we get to watch another kids basketball game and that is a good thing all right let's get to our go to the game good and bad next up a little quick preview on the KU Gonzaga game here on this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. First, this episode of the show is brought to you by Manscaped,

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Starting point is 00:11:12 This episode of Locked on Jayhawks is also brought to you by GameTime. Buying tickets to your favorite events shouldn't be stressful. GameTime is a fast and easy way to buy tickets for all your sports, music, comedy, and theater near you. With killer deals on last-minute tickets and their their best price guarantee you can stop stressing out over the tickets start getting hype for the fun that you're going to be having you can see all the images of the seat views and this is especially nice like maybe you're out in the ncaa tournament maybe you know you're just buying your tickets on game time day to day because you didn't want to invest in the first and second round so they made it to the second round well boom you pull up game time

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Starting point is 00:12:14 create an account and use code locked on for $20 off first purchase terms apply. Again, create an account, use code locked on for $20 off. Download gameTime today. Last-minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. On to our goats of the game. If you're new to the show, new to the segment, we give our new word, or I guess new adage of the word with goats, which is nowadays the kids' greatest of all time. Back when I was growing up, goat was a bad thing. You're kind of the scapegoat. Let's start with the good goats here.

Starting point is 00:12:43 Nick Timberlake, 19 points, five of eight from the field, three of six from three-point range, including that big third one that he hit. He started two for two. Then he missed two on kind of some key ones late, and it was like, oh no. And then he hits the big third one. He also was six or seven at the foul line, hit those two free throws late after the, yes, bad call, but he still had to make them, and he did give credit there. Three assists, two rebounds. How about the big deflection he had, too? I know Samford, I think Kansas ended up not scoring on the possession,

Starting point is 00:13:11 and Samford went down like Canada three right after anyway. But, like, that was up to that point, like a really big play in deflection and showing some of the hustle there for Timberlake. So he had a really good game, and for a guy who in the offseason really harped on the idea, which I think was almost refreshing there for Timberlake. So he had a really good game. And for a guy who in the off season really harped on the idea, which I think was almost refreshing in a certain way, but was also like a little bit of like, wait, what to hear in the off season when, you know, there were a lot of questions about, oh, Nick Timberlake, like, you know, what's some of your goals, stuff like that.

Starting point is 00:13:36 And for him, he was just like, I've never been on an NCAA tournament team. Like I want to go to a tournament. And from a certain standpoint, like from Kansas, you're sitting there like, what do you mean? This is Kansas. Like we always go to the tournament. Like, shouldn't there be other goals than that? But, you know, that is something that you have to remind season was, but also he's never been in the tournament before. And so maybe that leads to an extra level of excitement or energy, momentum, whatever it is. Clearly it showed out in this game, which was cool to see. DeJuan Harris gets a good go. 13 points for DeJuan on three of eight shooting.

Starting point is 00:14:18 Only one of five from three-point range did hit the early one, but I like the aggressiveness there shooting the threes. He had seven assists assists four rebounds and I think above all like you can just throw these stats out the window though I will say DeJuan I believe has had a three straight tournament games of double digit points which is nice just the ability to break the press have a reliable ball handler a guy who had to play a ton of minutes in this game in altitude against a team constantly pressing him. It was wearing for DeJuan.

Starting point is 00:14:49 It was, you know, he's playing through foul trouble too. He gets the four fouls. Like, that was a heck of a game by DeJuan Harris. The stats look good. Again, 13-7-4, but it really is above and beyond that. K.J. Adams gets a good go. 20 points for K.J. Back-to-back games for that.

Starting point is 00:15:06 10 of 13 from the floor. He also had six assists, four rebounds, one block. This is the type of game that favors KJ. If you can play a transition game where he can be the guy cutting in transition and with a head of steam, this strong, fast, athletic dude is running through and ready to throw down alley-oops and get layups in transition, like that benefits him. Being somebody who can pass and dribble in the open court, he gets six assists, like that benefits him. So I thought KJ was really good for KU. Obviously, you want to clean up the free throw shooting. Again, you want to see at least six probably rebounds from KJ every game, but that's kind of nitpicking a little bit more. He was really good, and the energy he provided, as always, was great. Being the first one on the floor for the one loose ball

Starting point is 00:15:47 toward the end of the game, I know they ended up getting the ball on the jump ball, and then they canned a three right after. But he was the first one on the floor there overall, I think, for both teams, certainly for Kansas. And that was after he threw down the dunk and then was kind of holding his back, which, by the way, I guess you've got to hope now that his back's okay coming into the next game.

Starting point is 00:16:06 Hunter Dickinson gets a good go. Certainly you saw, again, the limitations of kind of playing two bigs and playing a slower-footed big with Hunter Dickinson on defense and how HRA, or, you know, they were able to hit a lot of threes and kind of take advantage of that a little bit with stretch five. But overall, Hunter still had a huge positive impact in this game, 19 points 9 of 14 shooting 20 rebounds five assists he was also really good in interior defense with four

Starting point is 00:16:31 blocks two steals they shot below 40 on two point shots uh you saw the huge plus minus from when he was off the court to when he was on the court big drop off between him and what parker brown parker brown's on a serviceable job this year for what he's been asked to do for Kansas but at this point in time it is such a huge drop-off that that's why I kind of go back to a couple weeks ago I kind of think KJ should just play the backup five minutes and maybe you work around here but then again you don't have Kevin McCuller so less guys to be able to do that with so I understand why it happens but overall Hunter was really good for you in this game the passing 25 assists 25 assists for Kansas. Outside of the turnovers, the passing was really good.

Starting point is 00:17:07 Unfortunately, the turnovers are part of it, part of the story here for KU. But the passing to score, I guess you would say, was really intentional and good for Kansas in a lot of ways. Outside of a few, which let's get to our bad goats here, let's talk about boneheaded freshman plays. Now, there are boneheaded plays throughout the game from every team and every level of player. And honestly, like Johnny Furphy overall, great production, 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists. Elmarco Jackson, great production overall, six points, three

Starting point is 00:17:35 rebounds, one steal, hit some tough mid-range shots, yada, yada, yada. And so I'm not putting either Furphy or Elmarco in the bad goats. I'm just putting a couple of the boneheaded freshman plays that happened in there specifically. Like from the Furphy one, not getting on the ground as quick on the loose ball toward the end of the game. I don't know if it mattered or not. It might've just been a jump ball anyway,

Starting point is 00:17:54 especially with how quickly KJ got there. He had the bad pass to KJ that led to the turnover, nearly fouling. Furphy was shooting the free throws. He hit the first to go up four, missed the second. He went for the rebound and nearly fouled the guy on a full court shot, which who knows, maybe he makes the shot and he gets fouled.

Starting point is 00:18:09 Like, could you imagine that gaffe if that would have happened? Just you're better off. Just let him shoot it. Just don't go for the rebound. Let him shoot it. You're up four. It's whatever, right? It's overall, again, Furphy, good production, great start to the game.

Starting point is 00:18:20 Far from a bad game from Furphy, but again, a couple boneheaded moments here or there. Same with El Marco. Like you got good enough production off the bench, and he comes up with a huge play at the end of the game, which should be commended for throwing it off the guy to bounce, give Kansas the ball with like three seconds left, but also a lot of really bad passes, a lot of head scratching, turnovers.

Starting point is 00:18:38 So again, I'm not putting El Marco and Furphy in the bad goats. I'm just putting there were a few flashes, a few instances from both guys that you hope can get cleaned up coming into your next game against Gonzaga. The three-point defense, bad goat, that's pretty obvious there for Kansas, though tip of the cap to them because they made a lot of tough shots in addition to a lot of the wide open ones that you had, though having a stretch five certainly not great for Kansas in terms of the matchups they have to play against, which I think that'll be a little bit better in your next matchup with Gonzaga we'll we'll get to that here coming up here in a second and then free throw shooting not great for Kansas

Starting point is 00:19:15 17 of 27 63 percent I mean that could have cost you the game right a few points here or there that could have been the difference rebounding as we talked about not great for Kansas even though they won the total rebounds rebound rate was not great for Kansas and that allowed Sanford to get a bunch of extra shots up in a bunch of extra threes and then last one here is Ryland Jones listen man I I am just glad I'm done having to watch the guy let's say that good basketball player but like I just I can't I can't it is so uninteresting and so not entertaining to watch somebody who literally flops at every instance in every moment and every inbound play is trying to take a flop it is exhausting it is brutal and I'm I'm sure he's

Starting point is 00:20:03 a great dude I'm sure I don't know might be might be not, I'm sure he's a great dude. I'm sure. I don't know. Might be, might be not whatever. I'm sure he's a great dude. Um, that had a great year for Sanford. Sanford's a great team. I'm just glad I don't have to watch him play basketball anymore. All right, let's get on to, uh, what's next with the Gonzaga game on this episode of locked on Jayhawks. This week's March madness bracket highlight is brought to you by your friends at Nissan. Each week, we're picking one that stands out, a team that's pushed it further than the rest. Just like any of the all-new 2024 Nissan SUVs, these guys were able to take it to the next level. The Oregon Ducks are this week's Nissan Rogue.

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Starting point is 00:21:07 Finishing things up, Kansas now will play Gonzaga. In a region where the 12 and 13, McNeese and Sanford are really good teams. McNeese did not show it at all today, and Gonzaga played a really good game. You had both the four and the five advance, and I feel like that happens a lot in the tournament. Everybody picks one 12 and 13 seed, and then it's usually one that you're not really paying as much attention to that ends up coming through.

Starting point is 00:21:30 Anyway, you're going to be playing Gonzaga now, and this becomes an interesting matchup. Gonzaga's a top 10 offense in the country. Defense is in the 40s, so maybe something to give there. They're another high-tempo team. You have to deal with, hey, you had to play 40 tight minutes with how you had to play that one at the end. In altitude, can you rest and recover? Gonzaga had the earlier game too, so you have to deal with, hey, you had to play 40 tight minutes with how you had to play that one at the end. In altitude, can you rest and recover?

Starting point is 00:21:47 Gonzaga had the earlier game too, so you have to deal with that. You heard the crowd. That sounded like a road game for Kansas. I think it was a little bit less about what Samford traveled to the game. I think it was a little bit more about the closest fan base, which was Gonzaga. A lot of their fans were rooting against you, and so that was basically like a road environment, but that tells you that when you're playing Gonzaga, it's probably going

Starting point is 00:22:09 to be even worse. Kansas always travels so well and will bring a nice contingent, but this is going to basically be a road game. I would imagine for Kansas. When you look at some of the things Gonzaga does well, they shot electric from three against McNeese state and they've shot really efficiently from three this year, but they're actually in the 300s in the amount of threes they're taking. So if you do moderately well at just preventing those shots from getting up, you should be okay. But their top 10 and two-point percentage, they don't turn the ball over. They rebound the ball well.

Starting point is 00:22:38 They defend the interior well on defense, really good two-point defense. It's going to be an interesting matchup. They do play two bigs. Ben Gregg at 6'10", 230, plays most of the minutes at the four. Graham Ekay, a little bit of Braden Huff at the five. So they're playing two bigs in there. Occasionally, they'll slide Anton Watson down to the four for a decent amount of minutes per game,

Starting point is 00:22:57 and then they'll play with really just one big from that point in time. But when they are playing with two bigs, with Graham Ekay kind of down there at the five, Ekay has only taken 13 threes this year he's three of 13 last season that he played 2022 at Wyoming he's one of nine so in some ways Gonzaga is a great like a really good team I mean you look at it on Ken Palm they're 12th in the country this is going to be a harder matchup than anybody Kansas could have played in this in this pod in terms of how good the opponent is but in terms of the style of matchup than anybody Kansas could have played in this pod in terms of how good the opponent is.

Starting point is 00:23:25 But in terms of the style of matchup, with it being more big on big basketball and not having to worry about a stretch five, that is something that they don't have to worry about, which is nice. But Gonzaga is going to be favored in this game, which means that you're going to be expected to lose. So let's see what Bill Self can do as an underdog in the NCAA tournament without the full week off in between. We'll have a full preview of the game coming up later this week

Starting point is 00:23:48 on Locked on Jayhawks. You can find our show anywhere you get your podcasts, including on our YouTube page. See you next time. Enjoy. Get some sleep. And Kansas survives in advances.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - RECAP: Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Survives & Advances Past Samford Bulldogs 93-89 in NCAA Tournament

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