Jalen Wilson’s defense graded out so well it earned him his 8th team-MVP game of the season. Wilson’s defense has been especially solid the last two games despite poor shooting performances. Once again, KU’s starters carried the load, as its bench was collectively 8 points worse than a bubble-team against OU. Zach Clemence had a great offensive night that was cancelled out by a poor defensive showing. Bobby Pettiford gave up a few baskets as well, while producing only 1 FT and 2 assists.
K.J. Adams had his 10th consecutive positive-bubble game thanks to a career-high 22 points. His rebounding was still the thing holding him back. Thus far, we have him with 54 fewer defensive boards than Jalen Wilson. When broken down by playing time, Wilson is nearly doubling him up on defensive rebounds on a per-minute or per-possession basis. The point is that if K.J. could clean the glass a bit more, he’d be adding even more value. Despite this limitation, he’s been great for Kansas.
Charting the Hawks 