Kansas vs Houston: Player Ratings to the Theme of Underdogs

KU was an underdog at home, and in honor of that, we rate the players to famous underdogs.

Author:
Derek Noll
Publish date:
Feb 4, 2024 12:42 PM EST

In this story:

You know, the betting houses usually get things pretty dang close to right. And to their credit, they rarely make Kansas an underdog at home, the last time being a 2021 matchup against Baylor. Kansas promptly beat the Bears by 13. Kansas was a slight underdog on Saturday when the Houston Cougars came to Lawrence and Kansas dispatched them with relative ease, 78-65. So, what better way to rate the players than to the theme of underdogs.

As always, we have a very methodical way to rating the players and if you’ve read the rating’s scale before, feel free to use the table of contents to fast forward to the good stuff.

5 Stars: Out of this world performance. This is a hard to achieve rating and is only reserved for the most impressive or impressionable performances.

4.5 Stars: Very strong performance, packed the stat sheet, provided undeniable intangibles.

4 Stars: A strong performance that falls just short of the standards above.

3.5 Stars: Above average performance, perhaps stands out in one category or one aspect of the game.

3 Stars: Average performance. Also could be a very strong game in one aspect but a very poor game in another such as 15 points but seven turnovers. Could also be that the player played, did their job, but didn't do much spectacularly.

2 Stars: Below average performance, or we simply have higher expectations for the player on this particular night.

1 Star: Rare, but if a player has a stinker in all aspects.

Memorial No Star: Named after former KU walk-on Chris Teahan and is awarded to the player(s) who didn't have enough playing time to contribute or whose performance isn't worthy of a rating for another reason.

5 Stars: 1980 USA Hockey

Easily the greatest underdog story in the history of sports. The 1980 USA Olympic hockey team took down the mighty Soviet Union in the semifinals in Lake Placid and eventually beat Finland in the gold medal game to secure a feat that no one thought was possible.

I don’t think any player warranted five star status, but several were very close.

4.5 Stars: Leicester City

When Leicester City won the English Premier league in 2015-16, it was the single biggest story in world football, probably world sports. My mom was talking about it. Before the season, the odds of the Foxes winning the league were 5,000-1. Now, that's an underdog.

Hunter Dickinson was very good in this one. He finished with 20 points and eight rebounds, but his boxing out was superb, his ability to swing the ball around was unmatched, and he dealt with Houston’s double team well all game. Basically, he was unstoppable in this one.

It was nice to see Kevin McCullar out there and feeling confident. After missing the Oklahoma State game with a knee problem, Kevin came back strong. He finished the game with 17 points and seven rebounds, shooting 7-8 from the field. More please.

Johnny Furphy was hot in the first half, scoring 14 of his 17 points in the opening stanza and giving Kansas momentum. The Aussie was three of four from deep and, along with Dickinson, led Kansas in rebounding with eight.

KJ Adams filled up the scoresheet with ten points, seven assists, and four rebounds. KU’s energy man was everywhere and did a great job shutting down Houston’s frontcourt, adding a block to his stat line. The man also loves to dunk.

4 Stars: USA over England, 1776

Just a little something that we over here call the Revolutionary War, the story about a pack of rebels that beat mighty England for independence. Sure, they had “home field advantage” and the British Empire eventually tumbled across the globe, but you've still got to consider this one an underdog story that changed the world forever.

Dajuan Harris was calm under pressure the entire night, orchestrating the KU offense with aplomb. His only turnover of the night came when he voluntarily let the shot clock expire with 1.9 seconds left. He finished with seven points and two assists.

Parker Braun was at his best in this one. He canned a three, made both of his free throws, and grabbed three rebounds.

3.5 Stars: Buster Douglas

When James "Buster" Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson in 1990 in the Heavyweight Championship boxing bout, the world couldn’t believe it. No one even knew who he was.

My only complaint about Elmarko Jackson’s game was the play where he did everything right but shoot the ball. He juked a guy, got open, got to the rack, and then passed it away. Be more selfish in that situation, man.

3 Stars: Underdog the cartoon

While not bad, this certainly isn’t the best cartoon ever made. The original series ran from 1964-67, a fact that I had no idea about before researching this article.

No one was a three star.