Hawking Points: McCullar Returns, KU Doesn't as It Drops Second Straight

The Jayhawks again lost the three-point battle and the game against the Bears on the road.

Kevin McCullar finally made his return and looked good, but the same issues that have been hurting the Kansas Jayhawks the last few weeks continued as KU failed to get a win on the road again, falling 82-74 to Baylor.

Key Plays

McCullar started the game and took Kansas’ first shot, which missed driving to the rim. It was after Yves Missi started the game with a monster slam over KJ Adams. Hunter Dickinson answered on the next possession to give KU its first points.

Baylor went with its patented 1-3-1 zone and Kansas attacked it multiple times with Adams feeding Dickinson for four straight points. Baylor tied the game at seven and then Johnny Furphy buried his first attempt from three. Then Dickinson found McCullar in the middle of the zone for his first points on an easy layup.

Bill Self tried to mass sub everyone but KJ but turnovers and a Baylor three got the starters back in immediately. The move to a man defense by the Bears also slowed down the KU offense. Tied at 16, KU gave up back-to-back and-ones and suddenly trailed 21-18. Missi cooked Parker Braun, who rolled his ankle on the play and Baylor led by five.

A Harris floater stopped the run as the starters re-entered the game. Then after a stop, Adams found Dickinson for a slam and Dickinson’s 10th point of the game. Another stop and a second Harris floater gave KU the lead, 24-23. Ja’Kobe Walter immediately answered with a corner three. Up four, RayJ Dennis knocked down a three to give BU its largest lead with 3:30 left in the half. Adams finished in the lane, McCullar got a steal and Harris found him for a layup to quickly get down just three. A missed Bears three and Harris running layup cut it to one. Another Baylor turnover and another Harris floater gave KU the lead with his eighth point. Dennis scored and KU had the last shot but Harris turned it over and Baylor led 35-34.

KU gave up multiple offensive rebounds but ended up with steals and McCullar scored the first four points for KU to take the lead by one. Then after another rebound, Dickinson hit a hook shot to put KU up 40-37. The Bears went on a 7-2 run to regain the lead until Harris found Adams for an alley-oop slam.

Bridges hit a contested corner three and McCullar answered with a jumper. Furphy had a rough sequence, getting beat twice on defense and a shot blocked on offense as Baylor got back up by five. The lead hit seven and then eight when a McCullar finish was followed by another Bears three. The Baylor lead hit 12 with 10:51 to play. Elmarko Jackson was the first player not named Johnny Furphy to make a three but then a bad McCullar pass led to an and-one for BU.

Down 11 at the under-eight, Jackson buried his second three to cut it to eight. Jackson scored again for his eighth point. A Baylor turnover and Harris floater made the score 70-64. Down seven, Harris found McCullar on a fast break and he somehow missed the layup. Down six, Harris stole the ball and made a ridiculous circus layup to make it 75-71. But Kansas’ defense couldn’t get a stop.

Eye-Catching Stat Lines

McCullar didn’t take long to shake off his rust, ending with 20 points and five rebounds, but he also led the team with three turnovers. Dickinson also finished in double figures, but had a quiet game by his standards. He ended with 20 points and five rebounds.

Harris had one of his best games – which continues an excellent stretch for him – as he recorded 12 points, nine assists, and three steals.

Adams only had six points and just one rebound in an unmemorable performance. Meanwhile, Furphy only had six points and barely played in the second half after some bad defense.

Areas of Improvement

Kansas has to find some consistency from three-point range. Furphy hit an early three and then KU didn’t hit another until the 10:31 mark of the second half when Jackson buried one. Meanwhile, Baylor hit seven on 41% shooting.

The Jayhawks also didn’t get to the line nearly enough, only going eight times and making six.

The big struggle defensively for the Jayhawks was blocking out. KU allowed Baylor to grab 10 offensive rebounds, and Baylor is not a team you want to let have multiple looks at the basket. The Jayhawks did not do a good job on the offensive boards, only grabbing six.

The Kansas defense as a whole was not good, giving up a ton of open runners in the lane and failing to get a key stop at any point in the last eight minutes.

Takeaways

It’s becoming a theme for Kansas. Despite shooting well from two, getting completely outplayed from deep and not getting to the free-throw line puts so much stress on the offense to try and overcome.

McCullar didn’t have to wait long to shake off the rust, which was a good sign, and Jackson had the best half of basketball he’s played in a long time. Still, Kansas can’t seem to put consistent good performances together or get consistency from its role players.