To be honest, it's probably impossible to put into words what happened last night, so I'll just leave this here.
This game came down to one thing, and one thing I never thought I would highlight this year: the Kansas offense. Kansas scored 1.296 PPP on the second best defense in the conference, and did it shooting 58% from two. Baylor is the 13th best two point defensive team in the entire country, with tall long premium athletes roaming the paint, and Kansas shot 58% inside the arc. They also shot 6 for 11 from three, which was a huge help, but the two point offense won the game.
Defensively it was a bit of a struggle, allowing Baylor to shoot 55% from two and to score 1.04 points per possession, but they did well outside the arc, limiting the Bears to just 7-23 from three.
The Jayhawk offense turned it over on 21.1% of their possessions, but when they got a shot up the possession was almost guaranteed to end in points being scored, with Kansas putting up a 62.3% eFG and rebounding 48.4% of their misses.
More on the dominant effort in the player notes, but the major challenge now is getting re-focused against Texas on Saturday. And Scott Drew, please ditch that zone vs. Missouri. Thanks.
- I honestly have no idea where to start, but I suppose we can start with perhaps the best NBAer in this draft class. All Thomas Robinson did was score 27 points and grab 14 rebounds, and he scored his points on 11-18 shooting and going 5-6 from the line. He ran the floor (and passed the ball while leading the break), had a jump shot that went in, crashed the boards, showed off power dunks, spin moves, and showed why he should be the national player of the year.
- It's funny, but I haven't seen anyone mention that Tyshawn Taylor had 5 turnovers last night. What he did have was 28 points, going 6-8 from two, 4-6 from three and 4-7 from the line. He got into the lane whenever he wanted, was able to get his shot whenever he wanted, and made a double clutch three at the end of the first half that was one of the biggest shots of the game.
- Jeff Withey was very good as well. The 3-10 shooting was a bit rough, and he probably shouldn't take any more jumpers, but he had 10 rebounds, including 9 offensive boards. He also had 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks.
- Elijah Johnson sneakily had a good game, with 11 points and 5 rebounds, and 3 assists to just 1 turnover. He only took one three as well, not getting arrested by the moment. He had a scary episode in the second half where he appeared to get dizzy or sick and had to go to the locker room, but he was able to come back on the court so that is obviously wonderful to see.
- Kansas really only played 6 guys, with Tehan being the 6th, and Kevin Young and Justin Wesley got just 13 minutes of playing time between them. That really surprised me given Baylor's size inside, and I bet they'll be called upon much more in the return trip to Waco.