Hawking Points: Jackson dominates as Jayhawks outlast Cougars, 67-53

A dominant performance from the center pushes Kansas past BYU.

On a night where Kansas was without super-senior Holly Kersgieter due to an ankle injury, center Taiyanna Jackson dominated inside to push the Jayhawks past a hungry BYU Cougars team. Setting a career-high mark for rebounds at 22, she left the visitors without any answers as Kansas downed BYU by a score of 67-53.

Key Plays

Whether it was nerves of playing without Kersgieter or just a lid on the basket, the early shooting was pretty awful for both teams. Kansas looked like they were going to start out hot after three straight baskets made them 4-7 from the field, but then they missed 6 straight shots and 9 of 11 shots to finish the first quarter 6-18. BYU wasn't much better, as turnovers and poor shooting saw them end the quarter 3-13 from the field but trailing by 4 points.

The second quarter is where Jackson started taking over, scoring eight of the fourteen points for the Jayhawks in the period. But the lids stayed on the baskets for the entire first half, as each team started the game 0-7 from three before making their eighth attempt from beyond the arc. Jackson finished the first half just 1 rebound away from a double-double as Kansas held a 26-21 advantage at the half.

The second half saw some big changes for both teams, as BYU started to see their three pointers go in and Kansas started pushing their advantage on the inside. BYU center Emma Calvert picked up her fourth foul less than 4 minutes into the second half, and her absence allowed Jackson to get multiple offensive rebounds and immediately put the ball back up. She often either scored or drew a foul (or both). On BYU's end, after shooting just 1-8 in the first half from long range, they made 7-12 in the second half, allowing them to make several pushes to try and keep the game close.

The pivotal stretch of the game came midway through the third quarter, as four different Kansas players combined to put together a 9-0 run and get the lead to double digits. Kansas went into the final period up by 11.

The fourth quarter got interesting as BYU's Kailey Woolston went 4-6 from long range. But the Cougars couldn't get it closer than 5, and after a timeout the Jayhawks closed the game on an 8-3 run to push the margin back into the double digits. Kansas closed the game out with 8 straight free throws. 

Eye-Catching Stat Lines

In addition to her career-high 22 rebounds, Taiyanna Jackson ended the game with 25 points on 10-16 shooting. 12 of her rebounds came on the offensive end, and she also recorded 5 blocks.

S'mya Nichols had what is best described as a "quiet" 17 points. She went 5-9 from the field and 7-8 from the free throw line, adding 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block.

Ryan Cobbins only had 6 points, but the had 12 rebounds on the night.

I counted roughly 87 successful jukes from the bat that interrupted the game in the first half of the game.

Some extra excitement as the @KUWBball game has been interrupted by a bat flying around Allen Fieldhouse pic.twitter.com/3nP8iuULeI

— Rock Chalk Podcast (@RockChalkPod) February 1, 2024

Area of Improvement

Coach Brandon Schneider talked about the defensive lapses in the second half that allowed Kailey Woolston to get open multiple times. He said it was a communication issue, which is both fixable and something that Kansas will need to correct before getting into the rest of the schedule.

If there is one thing that you can knock Jackson for from this performance, it is her free throw shooting. She was only 5-12 on the night. Otherwise, the rest of the team shot really well, so it is just a minor gripe.

Takeaways

The Jayhawks have multiple ways to win, even in tough games around the conference, but when Jackson gets hyped up, it's tough to stop her. Her length and ability to get around players makes her one of the most dangerous post players in the conference.

And Kansas showed tonight that the bench can contribute positively. Skyler Gill, Laia Conesa and Danai Papadopoulou all had big plays, especially on defense. If they can add a couple of those a night, Kansas will be much more dangerous in the rest of the conference slate.

Up Next

The Jayhawks head back out on the road to take on the TCU Horned Frogs, who are just 1-4 in their last five games. However, two of those are losses by forfeit, as TCU found themselves without enough players to field a full team against Iowa State and Kansas State. They are 1-1 since resuming play.

This win moves Kansas to 11-10 on the year and 4-6 in the Big 12. TCU is 15-5 overall and 2-7 in the Big 12. Tipoff is scheduled for 6pm Central on Saturday, February 3rd. The game will be broadcast on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+.

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