Game Summary:
KU struggled to put TCU away, but ultimately prevailed thanks to a late defensive stop (Dejuan Harris block). Jalen Wilson was the team’s best player, only allowing 7 points on defense while grabbing 9 defensive rebounds and forcing 3 TCU turnovers (1 live-ball steal, 2 dead-ball). This defensive effort overshadowed a quiet offensive night, as he only took 12.6% of his team’s shots while in the game. He did produce over 10 points of offense on an efficient 1.94 points per possession used.
Dejuan Harris had his best game in some time, scoring 11 with 4 assists on 1.30 points per possession used. He also played solid defense, giving up 9 points but also coming away with a key block on TCU’s Miles with 4 seconds to play. Had TCU converted it would have been a 1 point game, but the block sealed KU’s win. Christian Braun was efficient on offense (1.95 points per possession) to earn a quiet, but positive, value score. Mitch Lightfoot and Zach Clemence were both basically neutral players.
On the negative side of the ledger, Ochai Agbaji turned a solid first-half into another high-volume shot-output game which harmed his team’s chances. The 22 points were good, but he had 11 misses and 3 turnovers to get those points. His 0.84 points per possession used was well below the team’s 1.07 for the game. Defensively, he allowed 13 points, the most of any Jayhawk last night.
David McCormack didn’t shoot well from the field, but was solid again from the FT line. He did give up some baskets inside, which cost him. Joseph Yesufu had a poor shooting outing, as did Remy Martin in limited playing time. Jalen Coleman-Lands had a few nice hustle rebounds, but gave up one basket while missing his only shot attempt. K.J. Adams’ only impact was fouling a 3-point shooter to allow TCU to cut a 6-point deficit to 3.
The TEAM score of +1.17 was KU’s third-consecutive game under +3. Based on opponent, location, and pace; KU’s offense did slightly better than its defense did; but both sides of the ball showed a mediocre performance for a team of KU’s caliber.
Charting the Hawks 