Kansas went to 4-0 in the Norm Roberts era, defeating Southern Utah by 6 in Allen Fieldhouse. Jalen Wilson had a career-high 33 points, producing 11.78 points of value above bubble. This is the best game of any Jayhawk of the season thus-far. Dejuan Harris added 4.76 points of value, with K.J. Adams, Joe Yesufu, and Zuby Ejiofor also adding positive value thanks to solid defense.
On the negative side, Gradey Dick’s defense cut against another solid offensive effort. He scored 18 but gave up 16, which after opponent adjustment became a negative-value game. Still, he hit a big 3 late when it mattered. M.J. Rice had a poor outing, missing all 3 shots he took. Ernest Udeh didn’t score but gave up 7 points, mirroring Bobby Pettiford’s line. Kevin McCullar had the worst game of any Jayhawk.
The TEAM score of -6.53 means a bubble-level team would have been expected to win this game by about 12.53. Hopefully this will be one of the worst games of the year, as KU was lucky to get the win.
Through four games, it’s abundantly clear that this is Jalen Wilson’s team. Both he and Dejuan Harris have improved considerably, carrying the Hawks to wins against Duke and Southern Utah. K.J. Adams and Gradey Dick are adding small amounts of value; Adams on the defensive end and Dick on the offensive side. The other starter, Kevin McCullar, has struggled to fit into the offensive flow.
The bench has been mostly weak, with strong starts by Udeh and Pettiford being wiped away in the past two games. Zuby Ejiofor and Joe Yesufu are adding some value due to their defensive efforts. It’s unlikely that Yesufu in particular will be able to keep up his very strong defense.
Charting the Hawks 