Three Keys: Jayhawks need a fast, physical start against Bearcats
The Kansas Jayhawks suffered their second road defeat of the Big 12 conference season when they fell to the hot-shooting Mountaineers. The quick turnaround sees them at home, hosting new conference member Cincinnati in a bid to avoid a two-game losing streak for the first time this season.
Bill Self is 117-18 after a loss in his time at Kansas, and Cincinnati hasn't played in Allen Fieldhouse since the 1967 season, when they lost. To keep both of those streaks going, what does Kansas need to do? Here are three keys to making sure Kansas avoids a losing skid.
Start Early
The Jayhawks got out to a great start against West Virginia, but the early hot shooting from Johnny Furphy and Nick Timberlake seemed to be a double-edged sword. While the Jayhawks were able to lean on it early, the hot shooting cooled off, and the rest of the team wasn't able to pick up the slack while the Mountaineers kept the pressure on. Kevin McCullar and Hunter Dickinson got into double digits by the end of the first half, they still didn't look to be in a rhythm, especially defensively.
Cincinnati is a team that should be strong enough for Kansas to have to pay attention, and that means that McCullar, Dickinson and KJ Adams will have to get engaged early and often. The slow start won't work this time around, with both Furphy and Adams needing to be active early.
Hit The Boards
The biggest advantage that Cincinnati has in this game is rebounding. They are 18th in offensive rebounding and 7th in preventing opponents from rebounding offensively. Hunter Dickinson has been great as a rebounder, even when he is struggling elsewhere, but he can only do so much by himself. One thing that does help is that Cincinnati tends to go inside a lot more than the average team, so he should have plenty of opportunities. But it also means that the lane is likely to be a bit crowded, so he will need plenty of help.
Interior Defense
You would think that a team that goes inside as much as Cincinnati would be more efficient, but they struggle with a lot of the big metrics you would expect to see from an interior-focused team. They don't get to the line very often, and they don't hit free throws well when they do. They also get blocked more often than average, something that Kansas has shown themselves to be pretty good at.
The main thing is to avoid foul trouble from their bigs and take opportunities to deny entry into the post. If Kansas can do that, it won't be difficult to come out with the win.
