Hawking Points: KU Cruises Into 2024 With Dominant Win Over Wichita State
The Kansas Jayhawks put a bow on both 2023 and non-conference play by putting together a complete game in an 86-67 dominant win against Wichita State in Kansas City. KU now enters Big 12 play with a 12-1 record.
Key Plays
Hunter Dickinson opened the scoring on the second possession but it was two Dajuan Harris threes that was the first big sequence of the game to give KU an early 8-2 lead.
With Wichita State tying the game at 14, Elmarko Jackson went all the way to the hoop with an athletic finish and then on a turnover, Harris found Jackson for a dunk in transition. AFter a timeout, Jackson drained a corner three for seven straight points and all of a sudden, KU was up 21-14. Then it was Dickinson with six straight to keep the lead at nine after two WSU buckets.
Johnny Furphy got into the action for the bench, swishing a three late in the first half to make it 38-24 for his fifth point and first field goal of the game. After a free throw, KJ Adams threw down a monstrous two-handed dunk in the final minute. On the next possession, he found a cutting Parker Braun – whose brother Christian was in attendance – for an easy layup to send KU into the half with a 43-27 lead.
Dickinson wasted no time in the second half, knocking down a three on the first possession. Then Jackson hit one of his own for a 6-0 start a minute into the game. A steal led to a Kevin McCullar layup and it took just 78 seconds for KU to extend the lead to 24.
The Jayhawks made the Shockers look completely overmatched. Dickinson finished a reverse layup on a beautiful baseline spin move, Adams threw down another nasty dunk, and McCullar drew a foul and went to the line to give KU its 18th point in the first 5:50 of the half. Then Harris found Braun for an alley-oop slam.
Kansas went ice cold from three midway through the second half, but stifling defense and inside play kept the lead at 20. Free throws and a mixture of layups and midrange jumpers kept the Jayhawks going until Dickinson hit a baseline three for his 22nd point and KU’s 82 to go up 82-59.
McDowell capped off a nice effort and the walk-ons got a nice few minutes of run as KU closed out the game.
Eye-Catching Stat Lines
After starting 4-17 from the field in the first half, the Jayhawks turned on the offensive jets, making 12-17 to end the first half. KU cooled off again midway through the second half but still shot 42% for the game.
Kansas got excellent play from its big men. Dickinson recorded his eighth double-double with a team-high 22 points and 13 rebounds, but he also had four assists, three steals, and a block. Adams also had a complete game with nine points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.
McCullar continued his first-team All-American pace with 20 points and seven boards, while Jackson set a career high 12 points. The bench also contributed 17 points, led by Furphy with seven and McDowell with six.
KU had 23 assists on 31 field goals and also forced 10 steals while only turning it over themselves eight times. And for a team that occasionally struggles at the line, the Jayhawks hit 17-19 from the line.
Meanwhile, WSU was just 7-14 from the line and 4-20 from three, with 15 turnovers to just 13 assists. The Jayhawks also won the rebounding battle 48-38, including grabbing 14 offensive rebounds.
Areas of Improvement
The offense can look really good and then get cold in a hurry. After scoring 10 quick points, KU hit just one of eight over nearly four minutes to let WSU stay in it.
Then it was turnovers against a non-pressing defense early that kept the offense from exploding, but it wouldn’t last long. And outside of a cold streak from three in the second half, there wasn’t much to nitpick in this one. It would have been nice to see Nick Timberlake continue to make shots after the Yale game, but the offense and defense were in good form for most of the game.
Takeaways
This was about as complete of a game as Kansas had played all season long. The defense locked Wichita State down, Kansas was all over steals, 50/50 balls, and rebounds, and the offense was efficient. And the freshmen looked great, with Jackson playing arguably his best game of the season and Furphy and Jamari McDowell playing strong minutes.
Kansas looks absolutely ready for the conference slate and much of the team feels like it’s gaining confidence at the right time.
