Kansas Jayhawks Basketball vs Georgia Bulldogs: A (Semi) Statistical Recap

It got a bit hairier than I expected at the end, but Kansas eventually held off Georgia and escaped with the CBE Classic title. It won’t exactly go down in the history books, as Kansas scored just .94 points per possession and held Georgia to a paltry .78 points per possession. Kansas went to some zone during the game thanks to some foul trouble as well as fatigue that has clearly hampered the Jayhawks after playing 5 games in 11 days, including a back to back with nearly 10,000 miles of travel.

Offensively....yikes. Kansas shot just 44 percent on twos and 29 percent from deep. They were saved by a good day from the free throw line and the defense creating some easy baskets on the other end (although for the most part Georgia played well in transition).

Defensively, Kansas put the clamps on the Bulldogs, allowing them to shoot just 38 percent inside the arc. That includes Yante Maten’s 10-22 effort, as the junior finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds. The defensive rebounding looked ugly at times, and while Georgia grabbing 38 percent of its misses is by no means good, it isn’t as bad as some of the doomsdayers say.

Number grades:

• Frank Mason: 7. Mason was 5-9 on twos and 2-4 from deep which was nice, but had just 3 assists and 5 turnovers. He also had to play 37 minutes. I get that he’s young and mostly indestructible, but Self has to find a way to get him off the floor.
• Devonte Graham: 8. I thought Graham was the best player on the floor. He was 3-9 from deep (just 2-6 on twos but it is worth noting he got fouled on a couple of those drives with no call) and had 2 assists and 4 steals. He played great defense all night without fouling, which is a big plus considering some of the foul trouble Kansas has had so far.
• Josh Jackson: 8. Jackson keeps showing more facets to his game. Kansas used him in the middle of Georgia’s zone, and he responded with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists. He’s shooting right at 33 percent from deep, which is just good enough to keep the defense from sagging off him, and he’s virtually Mason like in his ability to get to the rim.
• Carlton Bragg: 5. I think we need to slow down the panic train with Bragg. He’s shooting 59 percent on twos, rebounding fine, and drawing quite a few fouls. He’s not there defensively yet, and I think he needs time to adjust to a new role in the offense as well as a new offense, but I expect big things from him still.
• Landen Lucas: 5. He played poorly and fouled out, so I will use this space to tell college basketball refs everywhere that it is not a foul when you jump straight up and stay vertical, and it’s not a foul when you post someone up.
• Lagerald Vick: 6. He had 8 rebounds and played some good defense, but was just 3-9 on twos and missed his two threes terribly.
• Svi Mykhailiuk: 6. Svi also played good defense but was just 1-6 from deep, although it is worth noting he had to take a couple awful ones to rescue a couple stagnant possessions.
• Dwight Coleby: 8. Bonus points for rescuing the game inside a bit. Coleby had just 2 points, but 4 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in 20 minutes. A healthy Coleby will help tremendously down the road, especially considering he was the 9th best defensive rebounder in the SEC as a sophomore.