Hawking Points: Franklin's 20 paces Jayhawks to big victory over Cougars
In the first Big 12 Tournament victory for the Jayhawks since the 2018-2019 season, Kansas secured what should be a straightforward bid in the NCAA Tournament. And facing a BYU squad they had already beat twice this year, they were able to avoid the third matchup curse and win a game that was never in doubt in the second half.
Zakiyah Franklin led the Jayhawks with 20 points, but the four other starters scored in the double digits as well. The Jayhawks held down two big scoring threats from BYU and finished off the game with a 77-53 win.
Key Plays
The Jayhawks got off to a hot start in this one, scoring the first seven points of the game thanks to three-point shooting from Wyette Mayberry and layups from Taiyanna Jackson. But the defense soon broke down, allowing BYU's Kailee Woolston to get open multiple times for three pointers. Amari Whiting traded baskets with a couple Jayhawks, but another three-pointer from Woolston allowed BYU to take a small lead into the 1st quarter break.
BYU stretched the lead to six early in the 2nd quarter, but an injury to Woolston derailed a lot of momentum and allowed Kansas to get rolling again. It seemed like BYU was going to be able to match the Jayhawks. With just under 3 minutes left on the clock in the half, Kansas went on a 10-0 run to take control of the game. They took the lead for the final time with 15 seconds to go in the first half.
The Kansas defense continued to clamp down on BYU, as they scored just 12 points in the third quarter and an abysmal 8 points in the fourth quarter. They totaled 9 turnovers to just 4 from Kansas, and they shot an ice-cold 28.0% compared to 61.5% for the Jayhawks. The fourth quarter was especially difficult, as Kansas started the quarter on an 11-0 run that included scoring on 5 of 6 opportunities.
Eye-Catching Stat Lines
Zakiyah Franklin scored 20 points on just 11 shots, getting to the line 5 times. She also had 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.
S'mya Nichols struggled at first, but she caught fire in the second half, finishing with 13 points on just 7 shots to go with her 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
Wyvette Mayberry had 14 points on just 6 shots, including 4-4 from three point range.
Laurent Gustin of BYU was just 4-16 from the field, with the length of Jackson and Danai Papadopoulou clearly affecting her shooting.
Area of Improvement
It's hard to nitpick too hard at this one, but there was a significant stretch where Kansas just didn't see to be able to anything to stop the Cougars in the second quarter. Obviously they were able to fix it, but it will be worrisome against a strong Texas team.
Takeaways
I have a hard time seeing how this win doesn't lock them up for the NCAA Tournament. They now can't get any more marginally bad losses, and so their position shouldn't get any worse. You could tell that this team was all business today, and it was only when they got back to playing more free that they were able to turn on the jets and pull away.
Up Next
With the win, Kansas finishes is 19-11 overall on the year. They advance in the Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship to take on the Texas Longhorns. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30pm on Saturday March 9th, 2024.
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