2017 NCAA Tournament: Kansas Jayhawks Basketball - A (semi) Statistical Recap of UC Davis

This is what an ideal first round game is like. Kansas had the type of game that left me searching for a narrative to write about. Even after Kansas struggled a bit to get shots to fall in the early going they did what they should have and kept firing from deep. At the end the math took over and Kansas was able to pull away from UC Davis. Kansas had a couple nice spurts in there but basically it was a nice steady run by the Jayhawks to put the game out of reach.

Offensively Kansas made 64 percent of their twos and 44 percent of their threes, which makes it no shock that they scored 1.33 points per possession. The Jayhawks grabbed 38 percent of their misses and turned it over on just 16 percent of their possessions. So they didn’t have hardly any empty possessions, they made a huge percentage of their shots, and they got an offensive rebound on 2 of every 5 misses. Sounds like a good way to score a lot of points and win games. The Jayhawks were able to get an open look pretty much whenever they wanted, did a good job getting out and running, and got some good looks off set plays and lobs. Pretty much a perfect effort.

Defensively, Kansas allowed Chima Moneke to have a nice game, but overall allowed just .83 points per possession. Some of that was the Aggies shooting just 20 percent from three, but Kansas did a good job of challenging pretty much every shot. The Aggies also shot just 40 percent on twos, a nice call back to the days of old. It was a bit discouraging that the Jayhawks forced a team that is as careless with the ball as UC Davis to turn it over on just 18 percent of their possessions, but we will tackle that topic more Sunday. In all, not a lot to complain about on either end.

• Svi Mykhailiuk led the team in minutes, and was 3-3 on twos but just 2-7 from deep. He also grabbed 4 rebounds and had a block, and his customary awful defensive play.
• Devonte Graham lives for March, going 4-7 on threes and nabbing 4 steals. His first two threes really got Kansas going as well.
• Frank Mason was 5-7 on twos, 3-7 from three, and 3-4 from the line with 8 assists. He had a couple defensive lapses, but when you carry the offensive load he does that is going to happen.
• Landen Lucas had 13 points and 11 rebounds, nabbing 5 of them on the offensive end. He also showed off a couple nice lefty hooks in the post.
• Josh Jackson was 7-11 from two and made his only three, adding 7 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and a steal.
• Carlton Bragg had an impactful 13 minutes, going 2-3 on twos, 2-2 from the line, and adding 5 rebounds.
• Dwight Coleby had 2 points and 3 rebounds in 7 minutes.
• Mitch Lightfoot had an assist and 2 blocks in 6 minutes.
• Clay Young had a rebound in 3 minutes.
• Tyler Self had 5 points, including the 3 to get them to 100, and a rebound.
• Tucker Vang played 2 minutes and had an assist.