Kansas got a long look at its small-ball option Sunday night, and it came in the harshest possible setting: a 90-84 exhibition loss to Duke.
What stood out most was how much of the second half Bill Self spent with 6-foot-9 Keanu Dawes at center, even though KU arrived in the game without much practice time using that look. Self had said on Oct. 15 that the Jayhawks hadn’t worked on playing small yet, and Dawes echoed that assessment before tipoff, saying, “I think it’s something that we’re in the process of working on,” he said, “like it’s kind of new for everybody.”
New or not, Self leaned into it. Neither 7-footer Paul Mbiya nor Christian Reeves played in the second half, and Dawes handled the middle for almost all of it against Duke’s size.
That meant matching up with a Blue Devils front line that included 6-foot-11 Patrick Ngongba II and 7-foot-2 Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje. Kansas mostly kept Boumtje Boumtje in check, but Ngongba still did major damage with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Even so, Self felt the approach had some promise.
“I thought if our guards rebounded, I thought it would have gone really well,” Self said. “… “If we were able to be better equipped on switching and weak-side help and attacking the ball when the ball’s in the air, things like that, we could have done better.
“But what we saw today, Keanu’s matchup when a 5-man guards him plays to our advantage. So I thought he did well.”
Dawes’ first two exhibitions hadn’t hinted at this kind of impact. He had one point and eight rebounds in 16 minutes against Division II Pittsburg State, then five points and five rebounds in 22 minutes against Louisville. Against Duke, though, he gave KU a real jolt: 11 points, four rebounds and two blocks.
One stretch in particular showed why Self is at least willing to entertain the lineup. Dawes hit a 3-pointer, then later finished a lob from Melvin Council Jr., giving KU a look that can stretch a defense in more than one way.
“I feel like it went solid,” Dawes said of his second half. “I definitely could have rebounded more. I probably could have done a little bit more defensively.”
Still, the matchup with Ngongba was a reminder of the limits of the experiment. Dawes was blunt about the work Ngongba did anyway.
“He’s tough,” Dawes said. “He’s really skilled, and he has a really good feel for the game.”
Self had talked about the small lineup as a possible weapon during the offseason, but he also framed it as something more situational than permanent. On Sunday, though, it became the answer because KU needed a way to defend better. Self said the Jayhawks weren’t able to do that unless they could switch every spot on the floor, which pushed Mbiya and Reeves to the bench.
“They moved the ball so quick the first half that our ball-screen defense was nonexistent,” Self said, “but it wasn’t because of the bigs, it was because the ball moved and they could take advantage of short roll and all that stuff. We don’t do that well yet. And so we went small to switch.”
Dawes was fine with learning that lesson in real time.
“Honestly I think it was the best thing that could have happened,” Dawes said. “There’s no better way to learn from it than playing against a really dominant two-big lineup, so I think it was really good for us.”
He finished with a plus-2, one of the few positive marks on the Kansas roster. The same plus-2 showed up in the lineups with Dawes as the primary big.
There is still at least one frontcourt wrinkle to monitor. Former Purdue big man Trey Kaufman-Renn is still working his way into action, and Self said his conditioning needs work.
Now the exhibitions are over, and KU heads into the regular season with some ideas to sort through. The opener comes Monday, Nov. 2, against Fordham, and Dawes said the night in Durham gave him a clearer sense of what he can bring.
“I learned for me personally that I can bring a different level of intensity defensively that I’ve never really tapped into before, and then as a team I think I just learned we have potential to be really, really good,” Dawes said. “Even though the outcomes haven’t been what we want them to be, we’ve seen a lot of good stuff that we do like.”
In Other News...
Kansas Gets An Early Duke Test Bill Self Clearly Wanted
Bill Self did not have to wait long for another measuring stick after Kansas dropped an 89-83 decision to No. 11 Louisville at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks now turn right around for a preseason matchup with No. 2 Duke, a game that gives Kansas another high-end challenge and, just as importantly, a chance to get a clearer read on where this team stands before the games start counting for real.
Self has talked about the value of the home-and-home setup, especially because it comes without the pressure of a conference result hanging over it. Duke has looked sharp in exhibition play, while Kansas is trying to carry the lessons from Louisville into its official season opener against Fordham. For a veteran coach trying to sort out what works and what still needs fixing, this is the kind of early test he clearly wanted. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Finally Got The Breakthrough Win Fans Desperately Needed
A long wait finally ended in Lawrence on Saturday, and Kansas got the kind of result that can reset a season. The Jayhawks edged Baylor 25-24 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, snapping a losing streak in the series that stretched back to 2007 while also landing their first Big 12 win of the year. It was the sort of game that gave the home crowd plenty to hold onto, with Dylan Edwards grinding out 156 rushing yards and Carson Bruhn adding five catches, including the first touchdown of his career.
The finish carried the kind of tension Kansas fans have been craving, with Isaiah Marshall powering in the winning touchdown run and Blake Herold turning the final minute into a pressure-packed stand by blocking a 45-yard field goal attempt. For a team looking for something to build on, the breakthrough mattered almost as much as the points on the board. It was a reminder that in a season where margins had been tight, Kansas finally found the last play it had been chasing. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Let A Wild Finish Turn Into One Brutal Collapse
For much of Saturday, Baylor looked positioned to keep its grip on a matchup that had become increasingly one-sided, but Kansas kept hanging around long enough to turn homecoming into something far louder than a celebration of the past. The Jayhawks leaned on a strong night from punter Matthew Gill, stayed patient with the offense and found a way to survive a game full of momentum swings and officiating complaints before the fourth-quarter finish took over.
Kansas erased an 11-point deficit in the final period and then slammed the door with a game-winning field goal block, turning a wild finish into a result that will stick with both sides for a while. Beyond the score, it also ended a 14-game losing streak against Baylor, which gives the Jayhawks a rare bit of history to carry forward even as the details of how they pulled it off deserve a closer look. [Read more 🡒]