No. 11 Kansas and Arizona State will meet on the hardwood for the first time as Big 12 foes Wednesday night in Lawrence, Kan.
The Jayhawks (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) bounced back from last week’s 62-61 home loss against West Virginia with a stunning 51-point victory at UCF on Sunday.
Hunter Dickinson led the way for the Jayhawks with 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting in the 99-48 win, while Flory Bidunga added 12 points and six blocks. Bidunga and Dickinson have been strong in their minutes together, which could lead to Bidunga playing more time in his sixth role.
“We haven’t had a defense like this all year,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We’ve put together some bad defensive plays with guys who are tackling and blocking, so I’d say the biggest thing I like about them right now is defensively they can play together. (Bidunga) is good enough and fast enough. He can play. out of bounds and others.
“But the biggest thing, even with (Dickinson), we were protecting the rim.”
The Jayhawks finished with 12 blocked shots and outrebounded the Knights by a whopping 63-32 margin. UCF shot just 20.6 percent from the field (14 of 68).
Dickinson leads Kansas in both scoring and rebounding this season, averaging 16.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.
Kansas also gets key contributions from guards Zeke Mayo and Dajuan Harris Jr. Mayo averaged 14.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists and scored 25-plus points in three straight games to close out December before scoring six points in a win over UCF. Harris leads the Jayhawks with 5.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game in addition to averaging 10.4 points.
Arizona State (10-3, 1-1) bounced back from a 20-point loss to BYU in its Big 12 opener last week with an 81-61 win over Colorado on Saturday, led by BJ Freeman’s 19 points. -8-of. -12 shots. Basheer Jihad added 17 points in the win, making 4 of 6 attempts from long range and 6 of 9 overall.
Jihad and Joson Sanon each averaged 13.5 points per game to pace the Sun Devils. Jayden Quaintance leads Arizona State with 8.2 rebounds per game and is second in the nation with 3.15 blocks per game while averaging 9.2 points. Freeman is averaging 11.8 points per game, while Alston Mason is averaging 11.0 points and a team-high 3.5 assists.
Traveling to Lawrence for a date with the blueblood Jayhawks will be among the biggest tests on Arizona State’s schedule in its first trip to the Big 12. The Sun Devils believe they are ready to prove their mettle.
“We’re very confident,” Freeman said. “As long as we come in here and play our basketball, I feel like we’ve got a chance with anybody in the country. I feel like (the way) we’re playing, the way we’re playing, the way we’re playing defense, we’ve got a really good chance to win.”
–Field Level Media