KU basketball notebook: depth begins to show for sixth-ranked Jayhawks

The sixth-ranked Kansas men’s basketball team have used two starting lineups in two games so far this season, but head coach Bill Self said it was still too early to talk about team rotation.

Redshirt rookie Jalen Wilson started Thursday against Gonzaga in the Fort Myers Tip-Off opener. True rookie Bryce Thompson started in his place in Friday’s 94-72 win over Saint Joseph.

And there were points in the second half on Friday when the two sat for long stretches even as Kansas (1-1) played with five ground guards.

Despite seated big men David McCormack and Mitch Lightfoot for most of Friday’s second half, Self said he believes better days are yet to come for McCormack, who started both games with Christian Braun, Marcus. Garrett and Ochai Agbaji.

“I’ve always said that and I still believe it is: David will be our top scorer this year,” Self said. “It didn’t look like that here because of the clashes and he didn’t really play as well as he could. But it’s encouraging for me to be able to play small. It’s also encouraging to me that the teams in our league won’t play like St. Joe’s. They’re going to play a big traditional for the most part. So I think it will be easier for David to be more efficient when he has a big player to play against.

Nine players played at least 10 minutes against the Hawks on Friday, illustrating the depth and number of different combinations Self can use this season.

Self said after Friday’s win that the Jayhawks made a major jump in a short time in the way they shared the ball.

“I thought everyone who played, for the most part, drove to pass today,” he said. “Where I thought yesterday we drove a little too much.”

To illustrate just how much impact KU can achieve in a game, Self said freshman Dajuan Harris – 3 minutes against Gonzaga and 15 minutes on Friday – was the main reason for the increase in assists on Friday. .

“The biggest difference in the movement of the ball was that Dajuan was in the game,” he said. “The ball never stayed with him. When he got it, he went in and out of his hands so quickly, that the defense changed from strong to weak faster.

The Jayhawks, as a team, provided 17 assists of 32 goals scored on Friday, compared to just 10 assists of 33 assists against Gonzaga.

Injury update

McCormack and point guard Marcus Garrett were slowed down by the injury bug in Friday’s win.

Garrett, who started and played 29 minutes, recording five points, seven rebounds and three assists with no turnover, sat down during the second half due to difficulty breathing.

“He does that sometimes,” Self says. “There are days when it’s hard for him to catch his breath, and today was one of those days.

Self said McCormack’s minutes were limited in the second half because as a precaution after McCormack got tangled up with an SJU player late in the first half as he battled for a loose ball .

“He didn’t hurt him,” Self said. “But he twisted his knee. If we needed to play it, we could have. We got permission. He put in a run in the second half for a bit of stability, but I thought there was no point in playing him if he wasn’t 100%.

Then

After a few days off, the Jayhawks will immediately return to high-level competition at the Champions Classic on Tuesday in Indianapolis, where KU will face 10th Kentucky.

The tip-off for this one is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. on ESPN from Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Self said on Friday the Jayhawks would spend two more nights in Fort Myers before leaving for Indy on Sunday in time to acclimatize in Hoosier State a full day before their next game.

“We’re going to practice some (Saturday), at least walk,” Self said. “And then we’ll be training hard here on Sunday and I believe our flight is around 3pm Sunday and we’ll get to Indy around 5 or 6.”

The extended trip, in part to limit KU’s commute time, means that by the time the Jayhawks return home after Game 3, their season will open with an eight-day road trip.

This and that…

Friday’s win made the Jayhawks 1-1 for the second straight season and eighth time under Self … KU now leads the all-time streak with Saint Joseph’s, 6-2, including a 4-0 mark as a ranked team … The 22-point win gave Kansas 97-13 after a Self-era loss … Friday marked senior KU Mitch Lightfoot’s 100th game as Jayhawk.