Kansas - Austin Peay Recap, Stats

Austin Peay took a brief lead early, and was looking into it, but then Kansas took control and never looked back, eventually winning by 26 even after playing mostly the bench in the second half. The Jayhawks scored 1.36 PPP, which is obviously incredible, but did allow 1.03 PPP which isn't great, although it is tough to read too much into it considering the Jayhawks obviously didn't expend maximum effort on that end of the floor.

Offensively it was all working. The Jayhawks were able to get it down low against Peay's smaller front and shot 61 percent from two. They also took advantage of some open threes, though only 16 of their 70 field goal attempts came from deep, and shot 37.5 percent from deep. As you might expect against a smaller team, Kansas rebounded 38 percent of its misses. The Jayhawks also committed turnovers on just 13 percent of their possessions, so it's not hard to see why they piled up the points.

Defensively, Austin Peay didn't do anything too magical. They shot 46 percent on twos, which is a bit better than Kansas usually allows but not by a ton, and shot just 27 percent on threes. They did rebound 36 percent of their misses, which is a bit troubling for Kansas, and only turned it over on 15.6 percent of their possessions which also isn't great. The biggest driver of their points, however, was probably the free throw line. Kansas allowed them to take 37 free throws, so even though Peay made just 67.6 percent of them, those points add up. The defense needs some work, but it's not panic time yet given that Kansas certainly tried to conserve energy and played their bench a lot.

Frank Mason was just 2-5 on twos, and missed a layup, and 0-2 from three. He did have 4 assists and a turnover and played well defensively. He got some rest, playing fewer than 30 minutes, and clearly his foot is fine.

Perry Ellis enjoyed the first game of his final NCAA tournament, going 8-12 on twos and 5-7 from the line. He also had a blocked shot.

Devonte Graham didn't score, missing a two and two threes. He clearly got into the more traditional point guard role, with 6 assists and 0 turnovers. I certainly wouldn't call it a bad game but I am glad he had a scoreless game now rather than Saturday or next week.

Wayne Selden struggled a bit all game, but did go 4-6 on twos and 1-4 from three, which isn't terrible. He did have 4 fouls, just 3 rebounds, 2 assists, a turnover, and struggled defensively.

Landen Lucas also enjoyed playing against a smaller team, going 6-7 on twos and grabbing 8 rebounds. He had 2 turnovers, but 2 blocked shots. Lucas also did a good job on Austin Peay star Chris Horton, who was just 5-12.

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk was insane, going 5-6 on twos and 4-5 on threes for a new career high of 23 points. He handled the ball well, picked his spots correctly, and didn't lose anything on the defensive end despite his excellent game offensively.

Jamari Traylor didn't score, but impacted the game in other ways with 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals.

Brannen Greene played 11 minutes and struggled with his shooting, going 0-2 on twos and 0-1 from deep. He did have 4 assists and 3 steals tho.

Lagerald Vick showed some of his insane potential, going 1-1 on twos, 1-1 on threes, and 2-2 from the line. More than his shooting line though was his athleticism and his defensive potential.

Carlton Bragg played 9 minutes, was 2-3 from the field, grabbed 3 rebounds, and had a couple nice defensive plays even though he struggled a bit overall.

Cheick Diallo was 4-5 from the field, had 4 rebounds, a blocked shot, and a Mutombo finger wag. Granted it was just Peay but hopefully Diallo can get 5-10 minutes per game in the tournament and develop into a bit of an x factor.

Hunter Mickelson played 5 minutes, went 1-5 on twos, and had a rebound and a blocked shot.

Evan Manning played 3 minutes and had 2 rebounds.