Kansas Jayhawks Basketball vs Davidson: A (Semi) Statistical Recap

One of the worries of facing a team that takes half its shots from three is even if the team doesn’t shoot it great, they can have a hot night and all of a sudden there is an upset. It almost happened last night as Davidson shot 43 percent in the first half, but Kansas put the clamps on in the second half. The Wildcats still shot 37 percent on 27 attempts, but thanks to a great second half, Davidson managed just 1.01 points per possession.

Davidson did end up shooting almost 50 percent on twos, but rebounded just 24 percent of its misses and turned it over on 19 percent of their possessions. It wasn’t a great defensive effort, but given how good Davidson can be on offense, it was a good enough effort to get the job done. Notably, Kansas shut down Jack Gibbs, allowing him to shoot just 3-14 from the field.

Offensively, Kansas scored a sparkling 1.27 points per possession, shot 57 percent on twos, and rebounded 37 percent of their misses while turning it over on just 8.6 percent of their trips. Because of that, Kansas managed to survive despite shooting just 6-21 from three.

Honestly, both halves were impressive. Kansas withstood a barrage of threes in the first half, and then ran away and hid in the second half, showing off the ability to put the hammer down. They probably allowed too many open looks in the first half, but reversed that in the second half.

• Frank Mason had one of his weaker games of the season, going 2-7 from two, 2-6 from three, with 7 assists and 3 turnovers. He did play great defense on Gibbs however.
• Svi Mykhailiuk was really good in his first start of the season. He was just 1-5 from deep but a couple were shots that just rattled out. He was also 3-3 on twos, had 4 rebounds, and 3 steals.
• Devonte Graham was 5-5 from two but 0-3 from three, had 3 assists, 2 blocks(!), and 3 steals.
• Josh Jackson looked ready to explode in the first half, and while he didn’t quite get there he still finished 7-14 from two, 1-3 from three, and added 8 rebounds, 3 assists, a block, and two steals. He’s not there yet as a shooter, and might not get there this season, but I don’t remember a KU wing as good all around as he is.
• Udoka Azubuike had his playing time limited to just 7 minutes due to fouls, and some game flow, but had 5 points.
• Lagerald Vick didn’t let coming off the bench bother him, going 2-4 from three, adding 3 rebounds, an assist, and a block. I thought he mostly played well defensively as well.
• Landen Lucas certainly appears to be all the way back, scoring 8 points and collecting 8 rebounds. He also committed just 2 fouls.
• Carlton Bragg returned from his one game off, with 7 points and 8 rebounds in 18 minutes.
• Mitch Lightfoot got 4 first half minutes, played a couple good possessions defensively, and also made a layup off a nice duck in.