A (semi) Statistical Recap of Pittsburg State

Well that’s more like it. Kansas dominated from the start in its second exhibition, dominating Pitt State in every facet of the game, eventually winning 102-42.

Offensively, there were a ton of positives, but I will start with maybe a bit of an underrated one. Kansas turned it over on just 5.7 percent of its possessions last night. Regardless of how many spacing issues there are or maybe some tough nights shooting, Kansas will win a ton of games if they can severely limit turnovers like that. Obviously they won’t have many sub 10 percent games, but if they can get up that many shots, they will be able to score plenty.

The obvious point on offense is the 3-point shooting. The Jayhawks took over half their shots from three and made 45 percent of them. Speaking of things that will make you win a lot of games. While Kansas won’t shoot that percentage often, when you consider Devon Dotson was just 2-7 and Isaiah Moss just 1-4 from three, I don’t think it was a major outlier either. Simply put, this team should yet again be shooting a ton of threes, even with the deeper line.

Defensively, Kansas dominated. 7 blocked shots, allowing Pitt State to shoot just 29 percent from two, and forcing turnovers on over 20 percent of their possessions. I think it’s likely Kansas won’t be a high turnover forcing team, mostly because that’s not who Bill Self is, but I do think they’ll be able to (mostly) funnel guys inside where Udoka Azubuike will be waiting, and Dotson, Marcus Garrett, and potentially even Ochai Agbaji will be able to put a lot of pressure on teams on the perimeter.

Some notable player performances:

• Ochai Agbaji grabbed attention for going 5-6 from three, but I was just as encouraged by the 6 assists. This is cliché city, but it certainly looks as though the game has slowed down considerably for Agbaji, and he looks poised to be KU’s third star.
• Devon Dotson struggled to score, but 7 assists and 0 turnovers is very encouraging for a guy who had his issues with both at times last year.
• Silvio De Sousa looks like he will pick up where he left off rebounding wise, as he nabbed 10 rebounds (5 offensive) in just 14 minutes.
• Christian Braun! He was more of a passer in game one, but went 3-4 from three in this one, and looks poised to grab a lot more playing time than originally thought.
• Tristan Enaruna had a what I like to call a Wayne Selden at his best type boxscore, with 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists in 21 minutes.
• Marcus Garrett was much less noticeable, but 1-2 from three as his encouraging start continues.