Kansas Jayhawks vs Texas Southern Tigers: Time To Get Right
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The finale of last week's Battle 4 Atlantis tournament probably couldn't have gone any worse for the Kansas Jayhawks, as foul trouble for Dajuan Harris and an injury for Bobby Pettiford made it difficult for them to keep pace with a Tennessee Volunteers team that got a bucket any time they needed it.
But tonight's opponent is not one that you would expect to be able to do anything similar. The Texas Southern Tigers come into Allen Fieldhouse to allow the Jayhawks a chance to build some confidence heading into a very difficult stretch of non-conference games. Can Kansas take advantage and figure some things out? Or will the struggles continue?
Do you disagree with our assessment? Make sure you read them all and then hop over to the Discord or on Twitter to share your own thoughts.
Kyle Davis
Check out our Texas Southern Preview for Kyle's full breakdown and prediction.
Brendan Dzwierzynski
Taking on the No. 241 team in KenPom feels like a great opportunity for KU to bounce back from three physical, tough, strugglesome games in The Bahamas. I said this during the Battle 4 Atlantis as well, but we need to see someone else step up on the offensive end outside of Jalen Wilson. Dick has the ability, just not the consistency yet. Whether it’s him or someone else, Kansas needs a secondary (and tertiary) scoring threat for a full 40 minutes. The buy game right after the preseason tournament should be a good time to find that guy. The Jayhawks should cruise Monday night and can hopefully figure out a few fixes, too.
Kansas 80, Texas Southern 60.
Derek Noll
I completely agree with Brendan on both points. This is the confidence boosting game that KU needs going into the home stretch before conference play. It’s is also a game in which someone other than Wilson can establish himself as a go to player. It seems that the only other guy on this roster that’s willing to try to go get points is Kevin McCullar but he’s been streaky. Maybe Kevin’s that guy, maybe it’s Gradey Dick. Either way, the Jayhawks have to find someone to score when the opposition focuses in on Jalen. That’s more for the future but it starts against Texas Southern. Today’s game won’t matter for that as the Hawks should win easily.
Kansas 90, Texas Southern 67.
Lucas Murphy
Editor's Note: Much like several pieces of the Kansas lineup, Lucas is not at full strength for tonight. But I did get his quick score prediction.
Kansas 86, Texas Southern 65
Andy Mitts
We haven't had a chance to do a podcast on it yet, but the game against Tennessee is exactly the type of game you are worried about when you don't have an inside presence that can consistently punish an opponent and build a rhythm. Kansas was ice cold from the field, which is going to happen occasionally, and they didn't have anyone ready to step up in the post and carry the team for a short time. That led to Jalen Wilson and company pressing with the ball. And we can talk all we want about the refs and how some bogus foul calls swayed that game, but the fact is that Kansas was not a couple missed calls from winning that game. They were a couple missed calls from losing by a "respectable" amount.
I fully expect Bill Self to use this game to try and build some confidence in whomever he has decided has the best chance to be the main post threat moving forward. Kansas REALLY needs a big man, especially before the meat of the schedule gets started, and Texas Southern isn't going to provide a huge amount of resistance.
Kansas 88, Texas Southern 61.
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