Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - WILL DARRYN PETERSON PLAY vs Cam Boozer? Kansas Jayhawks vs Duke Blue Devils Preview

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

Kansas Jayhawks face a pivotal showdown against Duke Blue Devils, with superstar freshman Darryn Peterson’s status in doubt after Bill Self’s ominous postgame comments. Can Kansas challenge Duke�...�s NBA-caliber lineup without their top NBA draft prospect, or will the Blue Devils’ size and shooting expose the Jayhawks’ thin rotation? Derek Johnson previews the high-stakes Champions Classic clash, spotlighting the Peterson injury saga, the potential Boozer vs. Peterson “battle of the future top picks,” and the intriguing Dame Sarr recruiting twist.Key analysis covers Kansas’ lineup adjustments, the impact of Tre White and Bryson Tiller, and critical matchups like Flory Bidunga versus Patrick Ngongba. The discussion examines Duke’s strengths—elite size, three-point shooting, fast-break offense—and their areas of vulnerability, including defensive rebounding. Can Kansas seize momentum without their star, or does Duke’s young core prove too tough? Get expert insight on roster questions, strategic keys, and what this Blue Blood battle means for both teams’ title ambitions.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeToday's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Kansas takes on Duke on Tuesday, and they might be without Darren Peterson. We're going to preview and break down what that means for KU in this second Battle of the Blue Blood. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Hey, what's going on? Derek Johnson here. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. And thank you to the everydayers catching each and every episode of the show. Thank you so much for making. Locked on a number one sports podcast network. And on today's edition of LOJ, we're breaking down the KU Duke game, Darren Peterson, big question mark after some, I don't know, tough quotes to hear from Bill Self in the post game from the Princeton game. Certainly not leading you to believe that that's going to be great for this game. We'll also get into the Duke scouting report, players to watch for both teams, matchups of the game, and so much more. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by GameTime,
Starting point is 00:01:06 which if you're in the New York area, making the travel up. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, I wouldn't be that worried because you can just pull up game time and download the GameTime app today, create an account and use code locked on college for $20 off your first purchase. So KU takes on Duke,
Starting point is 00:01:20 and it's obviously your second battle of the Blue Bloods this season. You took on North Carolina earlier. Didn't go well. Now you take on Duke on a neutral site in New York City, which is the same spot that you had a pretty fun game, which was the Frank Mason game. And I think what is interesting about that one, or I think it was 2016 for the 16-17 season, Frank Mason, it's the game winner. And if that game, if you remember, I believe, I could be off with this, I believe Jason Tatum for Duke did not play in that game. I believe he was injured and out for that game. Well, now we could have a switch it to the other side of things.
Starting point is 00:01:56 if Darren Peterson does not play. There were some not super encouraging comments from Bill South after the Princeton game, kind of talking about it, you know, being something that could be, you know, a little more into the near future, I think was the term that he used for. And kind of based on how he was speaking in the post game, who knows, maybe there's a bit of gamesmanship there, right? Like maybe you're trying to get Duke not to prepare for him as much. Who knows?
Starting point is 00:02:23 I don't know. The way that I'm reading into those things, like, I'm almost not expecting him to play. And I'll say this. If Darren Peterson does end up playing, that's going to be so fun. And the top storyline becomes, oh, we get the potential battle of potential number one NBA draft picks
Starting point is 00:02:37 with Peterson against Boozer, right? That's what everybody will come for from a national audience who's not like a Duke or KU fan. It's going to be a lot of fun if that is the case. But I don't know that I'm expecting that to happen. And then we get into a standpoint of like, okay, Duke is one of the best teams in the country. what is this Kansas team without Darren Peterson?
Starting point is 00:02:57 Are they one of the 30 best teams in the country? Are they one of the 20 best teams in the country? I don't know. And so if you end up like, right, if you're without Darren Peterson, if you're the 35th best team in the country, what does that mean? You're going to lose by double digits, you know?
Starting point is 00:03:14 Versus if it's like, oh, if you are a top 25 team, even without Peterson versus if you have Peterson and you are a top 15 or a top 10 team, what are those differences mean? Can you get a really strong performance? here that allows you to have an opportunity to still win this game even without him when they have all these NBA dudes on their team. And you potentially have the number one pick sitting for an injury where, you know, okay, Florey might be a future NBA guy, maybe Cole Rosario, but it's like, are they there right now? Who knows? So that's obviously the big storyline from the
Starting point is 00:03:47 Kansas side of things. Is he even going to play? Like I said, I think, you know, this is going to come out for you at a point where, depending when you listen to it, if you listen to it at a point after Bill Self speaks at the media before the Champions Classic, then maybe you will have a full indication on what's going to happen there. But as of right now, when I'm recording this, we don't have that indication. And again, based on some of those comments and kind of a negative connotation there, it does feel like that is going to be the case. And that's just a question of like, when is he going to be, is this going to be another Joe L. Embed situation, which he wasn't injured in the first part of the season, but just in terms of like,
Starting point is 00:04:23 like having this otherworldly talent that you're unable to capitalize on for the season. You just hope that is not the case and you hope that he gets okay and all right. Beyond that, the importance of the game, I will say, like, if there is no Darren Peterson, I do think from the Kansas perspective, the importance of the game, like, I think from the Kansas perspective, if Peterson doesn't go, there's more that you can gain with a win than you will lose with a loss. Now, there are lines to that, right? If you lose by 30 without Darren Peterson, then we are going to have a lot of takeaways about like, oh, yeah, this roster without Darren Peterson is in trouble if he can't come back.
Starting point is 00:05:00 But if you lose by like eight points without Darren Peterson and you're kind of hanging in it and it's just a few plays that swing the game here there, I don't know, maybe you walk away from that being like, okay, this roster like isn't, you know, isn't something like, yes, you want to get Darren Peterson back, but they can keep it afloat in the near term, at least would be the hope there, right? And if you win the game, then all of a sudden it's a conversation of like, holy cow, to Bill itself really cook with this roster, even without Darren Peterson, you know, what does this mean? Does this mean that they can be even more patient with him coming back? What does it mean when he comes back? Right. Whereas from the Duke side, it's like, I think the
Starting point is 00:05:36 importance of the game is continuing to flex. Like, this is the highest ranked team they've played, though, you know, it's certainly not the highest ranked team that they're going to play. But I think from the Kansas perspective, too, like this would kind of prove the North Carolina game was just an early lump in the season and a learning experience. But again, it's hard to, if you don't have your best player really point to this and whatever happens with the result and be like, well, this is the team now, a couple of games later, but they don't have the right, right. I do think you could show a little bit of your ceiling. Again, if you're able to compete at a high level, maybe win this game or without Darren Peterson, at least
Starting point is 00:06:08 kind of keep it close, make you feel like the team should get better or is getting better and has that kind of in them. Like, that would be a positive takeaway you could have based on how this one goes. But again, I do think it's a situation of like, if you win this game without Darren Peterson, amazing. If Peterson doesn't play and you lose by 12, I just think it's going to kind of be like,
Starting point is 00:06:32 well, yeah, Darren Peterson was out, right? And that's something you will, at the very least, be able to have an excuse later in the season when it gets the resume season and NCAA tournament season. If you do get hot when Darren Peterson comes back, you can point back to that and be like, yeah, I know we lost some of those early games, but like, Darren Peterson was in. right in the same way that we see them do like coach football play anyway we don't need to get into that okay um other than that like i said if darren peterson plays him versus boozer even though they're not the same position the battle for the number one pick in the NBA draft like that is a conversation and it'll certainly be conversed at least a little bit like you'll see them show boozer and then they'll show shot of peterson on the sideline or something but it won't be as prevalent certainly uh it is another blue blood battle for you after you lost to north carolina bill self is typically done very well in the
Starting point is 00:07:17 Blue Blood Battles, right? He's had some success against Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, but obviously a different bear with this one with the situations you have versus your opponent. And then I think one of the other storylines that may be flying under the radar a little bit here with Peterson's injury and how good Boozer is and Kansas First Duke lore and everything is the Dame Saar saga continues on into this game. Dame Saar was coming over from overseas. I forget what school he had committed to, Oregon or Illinois or so, I think it was Illinois, committed to like Illinois and then he like decommitted or whatever. Then he ends up on the open market again, visits KU, commits to KU behind closed doors,
Starting point is 00:08:03 but doesn't actually like, I guess, sign the papers or make it public because he's waiting to see what's going to happen with Duke. And they have a kid who, Cedric Coward, who they had brought on as a transfer, but he was going to the draft process. Coward ends up staying in the draft process. And so they have the open spot for another kind of athletic wing, which perfect for Damesar, which it seemed like Damesar Duke was his dream school, so to speak. And so he kind of played Kansas along and then ends up going to Duke. So it was a little bit of a dirty business there to say the least. And one that I think certainly adds a line of intrigue into this game, especially from the standpoint of, like, how important
Starting point is 00:08:46 that, like, Kansas really could have used one more big addition, right? Daryon Williams is the one that that obviously sticks out the most, but Dami Saar was the other guy that was going to be that kind of, okay, you didn't get Daryan Williams, so you got Domey Saar, who's a potential, you know, first round pick and is a lengthy wing and can provide a lot for you. And the swing of Duke getting him over Kansas, how important does that end up being in this game, right? Like, what if Duke does win this game by six points? And Damase R plays a big role for Duke in doing so. Then it's going to feel like that addition for the Blue Devils was the difference between
Starting point is 00:09:20 these two teams. So I do think that is kind of an interesting storyline versus I think certainly KU fans would enjoy seeing Domesar go 0 for 8 or something like that, right? Like having a poor game to say the least. All right, let's get on to our opponent scouting report of the Blue Devils. They're biggest strengths, weaknesses. We get the players to watch for both teams, matchups of the game, and more. This is Locked on Jayhawks.
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Starting point is 00:10:58 Okay, so Duke comes into this game at 4-0 on the season. They had their opening night win over Texas that was kind of a, a little bit of an ugly game, but they still won by 15 points, which shows how good they are, 75 to 60, the score there. since that point, it's been just kind of easier opponents and blowouts, as you would expect with Duke. They're beating Western Carolina, who's 231 on Ken Palm by 41. They're beating Army, who's 358 on Ken Palm, which that was kind of a cool event with it being on Veterans Day and kind of a cool crowd and stuff. But they won that one, 114 to 59.
Starting point is 00:11:31 And then they beat Indiana State, who's 196 on Ken Palm by 38 points. This will be the highest ranked team, at least on Ken Palm, that they'll play this season. and that'll be the case, at least as right now, till December 2nd, when they do take on Florida. Gabe's not ranked super highly on Ken Palm right now for what it's worth. So you look at all those. Right now they are the amalgamation, so to speak, their second on Ken Palm with the number six offense, number seven defense. Bart Torvik has him second in the country with the number eight offense,
Starting point is 00:12:00 the number two defense. I would say so far one of their biggest strengths and will be this season is their size. this is a very they're positionally big and they're big down low too so you look at the point guard spot you'll see kaden boozer and caleb foster um foster six foot five booser is six foot four at the shooting guard spot you'll see isaiah evans who's six foot six and a very good shooter you'll see darren harris who's six foot five you'll see some where foster's playing next to booser so really it's like foster at six five of the two uh you'll see at the three Dame Saar, who's six foot eight. You'll see Nicholas Kamenia, former five-star recruit, who's six-foot-eight.
Starting point is 00:12:39 You'll see at the four, Cameron Boozer, who's six-nine-250 built well. You'll see at the center position and at the four, some Malik Brown at 6-9-2-25. And then you'll even see Patrick and Gongba, 611-250 at the center with I probably totally butcher that, but 611-240 at the center position as well. So, like, this is a very big team at every position they go through. The size and strength, like, it's not just, oh, size, but like, that was one thing. Like, North Carolina had size. They had length. North Carolina didn't really have, like, the, the 260-pound behemoth, though.
Starting point is 00:13:17 Duke has a combination of both. And we saw the size bother Kansas against Carolina, different type of size in this game. It's going to be very interesting how Kansas handles it this go-around. I would say even with the size shooting, I think, is a strength. for this Duke team. I mean, early in the season, 37.5% from three, which is obviously a very good number. They're 75% at the free throw line. But it's just like, it's not just that they have positional size. It's that they have positional shooting, right? Like, so Caleb Foster is somebody who can knock down threes for them at the guard spot. And so far the season he's doing so six of 12
Starting point is 00:13:53 from three point range on the year. Caden Boozer struggled a little bit from three in the early going, but then you look all the way through, like, Comania is at 35.7%. Dame Saar is 7 of 14 from 3, so 50% there. Darren Harris is 8 of 14 from 3, so above 50%. Cameron Boozer is 37%. And I think at the high school levels, he was like 40% from 3 last year, like, you know, all the competitions and stuff. So you can really shoot it at the 4.
Starting point is 00:14:19 And then the real guy to watch here is Isaiah Evans, 35% on the air, but the volume very high. 26 attempts, so 6.5. per game for Isaiah Evans so far this year from three, they have the shooting ability. They also love to work off ball and on ball screens, and that's interesting. Bill Self was very upset after the Army game in the press conference, which, again, I love the fact that he's upset. That means he was really coaching very hard with this team, which I think is a good thing for KU, especially with the young team.
Starting point is 00:14:48 And I think that is intentional. But he was upset with his team's off ball or guarding of off ball cuts and guarding of off ball shooters working out to three. Well, that was a problem against North Carolina, and that would be a problem if that is the case in this game against Duke. Because it's interesting. John Shire mentioned some stuff about, like, last offseason, kind of, you know, in the past, they were a pick and roll heavy team,
Starting point is 00:15:11 going to more of a team that was based on, okay, getting these big wings or like off ball playmakers that can make moves off ball, but also you can get the ball to guys like a Cooper flag last year, this year like a Camboozer who can be your non-traditional initiators of an offense. so to speak, right? They're not your traditional point guard, but they can initiate the offense in a lot of ways, passing, scoring, doing whatever, and then you have a lot of fun offball actions. And so they were just 187th last year in the frequency of pick and rolls they used, but they were seventh in the country in frequency of off screens. So it'll be something interesting, not just that they want to do, but the KU has struggled a bit with that defensively so far in what's otherwise been a pretty good start defensively, but I think that's been kind of the biggest bugaboo so far. Ninety eighth percentile is Duke in fast break scoring. per game. They're over 22 points per game. Now, I do think this will be a good fast break scoring team. Will they end up being 98th percent out all season long or as part of that schedule that they've played? It's probably a little bit of both. I think they'll be a good transition team. They've got good
Starting point is 00:16:10 athletes. They've got good size. But it'll be interesting how it translates into this game comparatively to some of those other games, which again, like, you're just going to like completely overwhelm when you're taking on Army. And obviously you're going to be able to, you know, get out in transition and do a lot of things there. If we just look to the Texas game specifically, they scored 11 fast break points, which that's a fine number that's like would rank 58th percentile, for instance, but it's certainly not where they're at. But still, I think to this point overall, that's been the case.
Starting point is 00:16:42 I will mention too, we did get to see them play an exhibition game against a good Tennessee squad. They won that one, 83 to 76. They had 13 fast break points in that, which would be a 78th percentile game. So I think they're a good transition scoring team. I guess point being that's in strengths there. For as far as the weaknesses go, I think youth and inexperience
Starting point is 00:17:00 would be one that you would point to. Boozer is a friend, well, I guess both boosers. Boosers, the boos are twins, the booser bros, they're both freshmen. Domai star is a freshman. Kamenia's a freshman. Even guys you're counting out to play big minutes. Isaiah Evans, Patrick and Gongba, Darren Harris.
Starting point is 00:17:17 They're all sophomores, right? Foster's obviously a veteran leader on this team as a junior and Malik Brown's a senior. but overall it's a very young team for Duke and um Kansas is a young team too so I don't know that Kansas really has an edge in this game but who knows maybe maybe a little bit at like maybe there's there's one spot or something that you end up with an edge and maybe that ends up mattering who knows um it hasn't been a weakness right now but there's only two areas on so this will cover the next two uh on if you look at like their their Ken Palm profile so to
Starting point is 00:17:48 speak and it has all the the green for the great things that they do there's only two areas that they're outside the top of 90, really, among their statistic profile. It is steel rate offensively, meaning that they're getting the ball stolen from them at a decent rate. They're 183rd in the country there. So maybe that's something where Kansas can force a little bit of steals. That would be one way to, especially if Darren Peterson's out, generate some offense. And then the other area is defensive rebounding, right? Like, obviously they're a big team, and that's going to lead to them being good on the offensive class and good at defending two-point shots and scoring two-point shots. But oddly enough, they've been,
Starting point is 00:18:22 And they've not been bad at it. They're still, like, solid above average. They're 131st in the country with their defensive rebound rate. But again, given the schedule they've played, is that something that if you're playing against better opponents can hurt you a little bit? So again, we go back to, like, the Texas game, their most real game, so to speak, or just in terms of the bodies they're going up against, I guess. And Texas had over a 40% offensive rebound rate.
Starting point is 00:18:46 They grabbed 18 offensive rebounds. So I do look at that and wonder, is that something that Kansas could explain? Kansas has not been a good offensive rebounding team so far this year. I thought they would. And in fact, I believe they should when you have Floribadunga and Bryson Tiller and Trey White can be a good offensive rebounder and athletic guards. Like, I think Kansas should be a good offensive rebounding team. It just hasn't happened so far this season.
Starting point is 00:19:08 Maybe this is the game you can unleash it a little bit because you might have to to get those extra possession, especially if Peterson isn't a go. The only other thing that I would bring up is, and again, it's hard. Hard this point in the season with a small sample size, I think Duke is an excellent team. It's just trying to, you know, find ways that you can find anything that maybe you could point out. So there have been a lot of threes fired against Duke. Is that just because of all the size against Duke and teams can't get inside or is that because they're leaving people open? They're 319th in the country in three point attempt rate defense, basically just the amount of threes that are coming up against them.
Starting point is 00:19:44 Again, that could just be purely some of the opponents they've played can't get the ball inside on them. So I don't entirely know in that area, but maybe something. to watch in this game. I don't know. We'll just put that up there because really hard to stretch to four weaknesses on this Duke team, if I'm being completely honest with you. All right. Let's get to our players to watch. Keys to the game, player matchup, all that coming up. This is Locked on Jayhawks. This episode of the show is brought to you by game time. College basketball is officially back now, right? And I think for some people, college basketball really starts with this event. It would be the Champions Classic when, you know, sometimes it kicked off the
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Starting point is 00:21:38 plenty more KU basketball and KU football content this week on the show so make sure you're subscribed anywhere you get your podcast or on YouTube all right let's start with players to watch in this one so I think um I mean if if Darren Peterson goes, then obviously Darren Peterson is the answer. I'm just not expecting that to happen. Trey White's going to be my first answer here. 12 points per game for Trey White this season. Coming off, arguably, his best game is Jayhawk, 18 points against Princeton,
Starting point is 00:22:03 was super aggressive, getting to the free throw line, getting rebounds. He had eight of them. He's averaging a little over four per game there this year, one steal per game. He's shooting 61% from the floor, 30% from 3, 77 at the foul line. He becomes super interesting, not just because if Peterson can't go, they need him to be that aggressor again. They need him to be that aggressor scoring. they need him to be that aggressor getting to the line.
Starting point is 00:22:23 They need him to be that aggressor rebounding. But also he represents really KU's one wing. I mean, Samis Calderon's been kind of playing the five. And even then, he's not really part of the main rotation. He's kind of their one wing against a team who has a bunch of wings. And if KU plays the big lineup, which I do think they started the two big lineup in the Princeton game in preparation for this game, I'm kind of expecting that to be the case, even though it was short-lived in that game.
Starting point is 00:22:46 Because when you look at Duke's size, I think it behooves Kansas to start the two big lineup up with Tiller and Florey and Mbia probably going to get some minutes in this game. And so that means when Trey White's at the three, you're guarding possibly Damesar. Interesting matchup. But when you do go down to when he's playing the four, you might be guarding Camboozer, which you're going to be getting outsized there. That's going to be a difficult matchup. Can you use some of your experience to find a way to make an impact on that matchup?
Starting point is 00:23:11 And then Bryson Tiller is the other one. Mention that KU could be playing more too big in this one. I think that makes sense against their size. Tiller really showed out in the North Carolina game. He's been good to start this season for KU, nine points, five rebounds, one and a half blocks per game. He's shooting 50% from the field. He's shot well from three so far. They need him to shoot well from three in this game.
Starting point is 00:23:29 They need him to play well in this game. But specifically on the defensive end, right? If he's coming in there as the four, he could be the one guarding Camboozer, right? That could be a huge matchup for him defensively, a guy that I think that the biggest questions about how his game is going to translate to the next level or that what you want to see the rest of the season, we know he's a super skilled big man. can he be a plus defender? And you have an opportunity to show that against Cam Boozer here, right?
Starting point is 00:23:55 And maybe we see sometimes where Florey goes on Boozer to give him a different look. And then you put Tiller on in Gongba or something just to get a little more length and athleticism with Flory on there. But Tiller's a good athlete too. So I think if KU has a chance in this game, those two players have to play well for the Jayhawks. For Duke, I mean, Cam Booser, he's averaging 22 and a half points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 3.6 stocks per game. video game numbers on 55, 37, 79. That's 55% of the field, 37 from 3 and 79 at the foul line. He's been an excellent player.
Starting point is 00:24:28 He just produces everywhere he goes. He's a match of problem for everybody who faces him. He's 6-9-250, so he's got good weight. He's got good height. He's got good skill. He can do a little bit of everything. It's not that you can, like, you're not going to be able to shut him down, but can you make his life difficult?
Starting point is 00:24:43 Can you make the efficiency go down? Can you get him in foul trouble? Like those are kind of the questions, I think, for KU coming into this one. And then Isaiah Evans is the other one, really good shooter, 35% from three. If I'm guessing, he's going to end up even above that this season, 13 points per game, 2.3 stocks per game. You got to mark him on the outside because he's one of those guys that can have a seven-made three-pointer game if you let him get hot.
Starting point is 00:25:07 And then our player matchup here, we're going to go with Flory Bedunga versus Patrick Ngongba. So Ingongba is averaging 11.7 rebounds per game, over a block per game, He's a really good defensive prospect as well down low, has good size and strength. For Florey, meanwhile, he's coming off his best game of the season, 25 points, 10 rebounds against Princeton. He is averaging 17 points, eight rebounds per game, two and a half blocks per game on 76% from the floor. But in the biggest matchup he faced so far against North Carolina with Henry Vesar, Vesar torched him and beat him up a good amount on the inside.
Starting point is 00:25:44 Now, Vesar is certainly more of an offensive prospect than in Gongba is, But it's also interesting because if Peterson's out, KU's going to want to go through the post and have Florey score a lot of their half court points. And then Gongba is not easy to do that against. So I think this is going to be a really interesting matchup. Plus you look at Florey's impact on the defensive end. Duke is in the 86th percentile in paint points per game right now.
Starting point is 00:26:08 And can you do all that without fouling? If Floree or Tiller getting foul trouble in this game, are we going to see a lot of Mbia? What if Mbia of Florey and Tiller get in foul trouble? do you just like wave the white flag and I don't know what to do you know what I mean like so you got to do it without fouling in this one I'd say the keys of the game too for the KU offense again I think Flory avoiding the foul trouble impacts both ends but he's going to be your primary go-to option of Peterson's out in the half court so he needs to avoid foul trouble for
Starting point is 00:26:36 that ends too I think Melvin council needs a score in this game I don't know what the point total is I don't know if it's like 12 14 15 points but Duke gives up a lot of above the threes. Council, I think, is 0 for 8. So far above the break from three. This needs to be a game where I think he needs to make a three. This needs to be a game where he's leading the transition attack. This needs to be a game where, okay, it's young teams on both ends. You're a senior. Go take advantage of that. Score double digits, especially if Peterson's out, you need some of that guard scoring. I would say for the KU defense, keep them away from the rim in the corners, easier said than done. But Duke is at 50% from three from the corners. So they're hitting one of every two from the corners. They're also shooting 76 and a half percent. at the rim. Again, part of that is the competition they've played. But you look at the other areas. In the floater area, Duke is just five of 25 this year. In the mid range, they're just two of nine. And on above the break threes, they are just 32.6% from three, which is fine number, but it's like below average. So can you keep them in those areas as opposed to at the rim and in the corner as much as possible? And then going back to the off ball actions that
Starting point is 00:27:39 Duke likes to throw, guard the off ball actions and the actions where it's a big or a wing kind of running point kind of initiating the offense, so to speak, can you guard those well enough to win this game? Let's not forget last year. In the game that Kansas beat Duke in Vegas, KJ Adams was the most important player for KU. Hunter Dickinson ended up getting ejected from that one. And Flore actually played really well. So you hope that that carries over into this one too. But KJ was a complete disruptor because you had a really stud wing defender. They wanted to have their wings, specifically Cooper Flag, initiate the offense a lot. And Cooper and KJ. Adams did an excellent job defense for KU.
Starting point is 00:28:15 doesn't really have that automatic answer this go around. So how can you find a way to do it in this one? I think it'll be very interesting for Bill South and company. Our hawks to soar here, or hawk to sore. So I mentioned Duke has given up a lot of above the break threes. Over 40% of the shot attempts that Duke
Starting point is 00:28:31 has faced this season have been above the break threes, meaning two and every of five of the shot attempts going up against Duke are above the break threes, so non-corner threes. Well, you look to the leaderboard for KU, Jaden Dawson's three of nine, there. Trey White's three of eight. Melvin Council's O of eight. I mean, Peterson is five for
Starting point is 00:28:50 11 there, so that'd be nice if you played. But Cole Rosario leads KU. He has 12 attempts. He's also a 42% on them. So I'm going to go with Cole Rosario. I think I like the way he's playing. I know it was just six points last game, but I think a part of that was kind of the foul trouble. I like the aggressiveness he showed the game before that he had 16 points. I think Cole Rosario has to play a big role for Kansas to compete or win this game. And I think it's sets up that he's going to have an opportunity to hit some threes. We've seen him have moments where he can get really hot in his prep career. This should be certainly a good time to do it.
Starting point is 00:29:24 So I'm going to pick him for Hawks to the Store. All right, 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. We're going to have a Roundtable Champions Classic episode coming out for you as well to get you ready for the game while the postcasts after the game. Plenty more content coming this week on LOJ. See you next time.

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