Kansas Enjoys Blowout over Texas Tech

After the nailbiter against Baylor it was nice to have Texas Tech to kick around a bit, and boy did they. For the third time in the last four games, the Jayhawks scored more than a point per possession and allowed fewer than a point per trip, scoring 1.25 and allowing .78. It was the Jayhawks best defensive effort of the season, and they did it by being vintage Kansas defensively. Tech shot just 34.2 percent on twos, and even though the Red Raiders were one of the country's best offensive rebounding teams coming into the game, they rebounded just 28.3 percent of their misses in this one.

Again Kansas was very good at forcing turnovers: Tech had a 21.7 percent turnover rate, but even more importantly, the Jayhawks forced steals on a whopping 17.4 percent of Tech's possessions. Kansas probably fouled a bit too much, but other than that it was a near perfect defensive performance from the Jayhawks.

On the other side of the ball, Kansas shot 53.8 percent on twos and an even 50 percent from three. The Jayhawks took 36 percent of their shots from three, which is probably about the right number when they shoot the three as well as they do, even with the ability to get to the rim as much as they did in this one. The lone complaints offensively were that the Jayhawks attempted just 17 free throws and had just a 32.3 percent offensive rebounding rate, but with those shooting numbers it's tough to complain about anything else.

• Another near flawless game from Frank Mason. 10 points on 3-6 shooting, 5 assists, just 1 turnover, and a steal. I was very wrong about him.
  
• Jamari Traylor had another nice game, scoring 7 points on 3-4 shooting. He made a jumper, which was weird, and also had two blocks and a steal.
• Even though he didn't get to the rim much, it was a nice bounceback game from Perry Ellis, scoring 15 points, making all three of his threes, and going 2-4 on twos. I'd like to see him get better at making shots at the rim, but I don't know if that is going to happen without a big beside him. Ellis is now up to 36.4 percent on threes on the season, and 43 percent for his career.
• Kelly Oubre is going to be super rich. Please hire me to be your agent, Kelly. Oubre was 3-4 on twos, 2-3 on threes, had 3 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and 2 steals. Also his arms are long enough to write this post from wherever he is.
• Wayne Selden struggled from the field a bit, notably shooting just 1-5 from three, but found ways to contribute without shooting well, which is huge. Selden had 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals.
• Devonte Graham returned and didn't miss a beat. He didn't shoot the ball well, but had 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and didn't turn it over. He didn't have a steal, but played really good perimeter defense, and maybe more importantly than anything is going to be able to give Frank Mason some rest. Or, like Bill Self did some in the second half, play with Mason and terrify the hell out of everyone.
• Brannen Greene was just 1-4 on threes, but had four rebounds and two assists and didn't get killed defensively.
• Cliff Alexander was supposed to be hurt, but he sure didn't show it in this one, scoring 12 points on 6-8 shooting and grabbing 5 rebounds in just 16 minutes. He also had 2 more blocked shots and is inching closer to the team lead in block percentage.
• Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk got 14 minutes to show his stuff in front of his parents, and he definitely did. Svi was 1-2 on twos and 1-2 on threes, and his only miss from two was a layup that I think he'll make as he continues to get stronger (and led to an easy putback). He also had a rebound and an assist and played well defensively.
• Hunter Mickelson struggled a bit, going 1-3 and grabbing 3 rebounds. He also had 2 turnovers. Mickelson didn't block a shot in this one, which marks the first time since December 10th he played in a game and didn't block a shot.
• Landen Lucas played better than his 6 minutes of playing time would suggest. He struggled from the field, but dominated on the glass, grabbing four rebounds in six minutes. He also blocked a shot. Lucas leads the team in defensive rebounding and is second in offensive rebounding.