NBA Draft Prospect Matchups: Kansas vs TCU
We were treated to a matchup of top-15 teams in Lawrence, KS on Saturday in what on-paper looked to be a great game with multiple 2023 NBA Draft prospects on the floor.
Instead, the TCU Horned Frogs used an early 19 to 0 run to jump out to an early lead and never look back, knocking off the Kansas Jayhawks in Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
Pressing, forcing turnovers and hot shooting from TCU led to three timeouts and a technical foul from Kansas head coach Bill Self in the first 11 minutes of the game and paved the way for their first ever win in Lawrence.
Mike Miles Jr. (Guard - TCU)
The 6-foot-2 junior guard got off to a little bit of a slow start while his team was on fire but make no mistake the Mesquite, TX native made his impact throughout this game with his tough shot making.
Miles would finish the game with 15 points on 11 attempts, most of which were extremely high levels of difficulty but that did not seem to bother him one bit. The highlight of the night for the Lancaster High School product was a late shot clock 30-foot bucket followed by a backdoor-and-one on the next possession.
The pre-season Big 12 player of the year pick displayed his change of pace and speed on multiple possessions that made it easy to see why he is averaging almost 20 points per game and has a 33 point output to his name.
One thing to keep an eye on moving forward is his 3-point shooting which has actually taken a dip in percentage and attempts.
Gradey Dick (Wing - Kansas)
The Kansas freshman had one of his toughest shooting nights of his college career. Dick is perhaps the best shooter in the country but has gone just 3-of-16 from behind the 3-point line in his past two games.
With that said, it was still easy to see how the Sunrise Christian Academy product could impact a game with his shot making when they are falling. Not only did he get attempts running off of screens but also showcased some nice shot fakes into 1,2 dribble pull-ups.
An underrated aspect of Dick’s game is his passing ability which he did display on a few possessions in this game. He is not a true creator by any means but definitely has the ability to find open teammates and make the one more pass.
A definite area of his game to keep an eye on is his defense. The Wichita, KS native is a competitor on this end of the floor displayed by his willingness to dive on the floor and take charges but there are definite areas for growth.
He struggles at the point of attack against some offensive players and while he is a high basketball IQ prospect, there are still too many lapses that lead to open opportunities for the offense.
Kevin McCullar Jr. (Wing - Kansas)
The 6-foot-6 senior may not be the flashiest of players but he put his full impact and value on display during this game.
Offensively he had a modest 10 points but did so on just six attempts that came in a variety of ways including transition, off the ball cuts and offensive rebounds. His scoring impact may have been even greater had teammates not missed him on some of his other subtle off ball movements.
The San Antonio, TX native also had a couple nice attacks to the rim off the bounce but seemed to be hesitant in this game to pull attempts from behind the 3-point line as he finished with no attempts behind the arc.
McCullar is also a good one more passer and ball mover that keeps the flow of the offense going and makes other impacts that go beyond the box score including setting off the ball screens.
The former Texas Tech Red Raider is one of the best defenders in the country and while he had multiple good on the ball possessions vs Miles (and others) it was not quite as impactful as we have seen in some games with his disruption. It is too bad that Kansas switches every screen which limited the total amount of time McCullar spent defending Miles.
Jalen Wilson (Wing - Kansas)
Even though his team lost by 23 points, Wilson was still the best individual player on the floor and had the best performance of the 2023 NBA Draft prospects in this game.
The Denton, TX native has back to back 30 point games to his name after dropping 38 in a loss to Kansas St earlier in the week and has scored almost half of his teams points in the past two games.
Wilson was scoring buckets at all three levels and doing it in a variety of ways which is outline in the video breakdown below.
Wilson had his hands all over the Jayhawks one attempt at a comeback in the 1st half but the deficit was just too much.
It will most likely get lost in the huge scoring output but Wilson also had seven rebounds and did a nice job distributing the basketball along with a very solid performance on the defensive end of the court.
Kansas is back in action on Monday vs Keyonte George and Baylor while TCU plays Tuesday at home vs Oklahoma.
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