No. 11 Kansas and Arizona State will meet on the hardwood for the first time as Big 12 foes on Wednesday night in Lawrence, Kan.
The Jayhawks (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) rebounded from last week’s 62-61 home loss against West Virginia with a resounding 51-point win at UCF on Sunday.
Hunter Dickinson led the way for the Jayhawks with 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting in the 99-48 win, while Flory Bidunga added 12 points and six blocks. Bidunga and Dickinson were a force in their minutes together, which could lead to more playing time for Bidunga in his sixth-man role.
“We haven’t had rim protection like that all year long,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We made up for some bad defensive plays by guys contesting and blocking, so I’d say the biggest thing I like about them right now is that defensively they can play together. (Bidunga) is good enough and quick enough. He can play out on the perimeter some.
“But the biggest thing, even with (Dickinson), we had rim protection.”
The Jayhawks finished with 12 blocked shots and outrebounded the Knights by a whopping 63-32 margin. UCF shot just 20.6 percent from the field (14 of 68).
Dickinson leads Kansas in both scoring and rebounding this season, averaging 16.0 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.
Kansas also receives significant contributions from guards Zeke Mayo and Dajuan Harris Jr. Mayo is averaging 14.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists and scored 25-plus points in three consecutive games to close out December before settling for six points in the win over UCF. Harris leads the Jayhawks with 5.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game in addition to averaging 10.4 points.
Arizona State (10-3, 1-1) recovered from a 20-point loss at BYU in its inaugural Big 12 game last week with an 81-61 win over Colorado on Saturday, led by 19 points from BJ Freeman on 8-of-12 shooting. Basheer Jihad added 17 points in the win, making 4 of 6 attempts from long range and 6 of 9 overall.
Jihad and Joson Sanon each average 13.5 points per game to pace the Sun Devils. Jayden Quaintance leads Arizona State with 8.2 rebounds per game and is second in the nation with 3.15 blocks per game while also chipping in an average of 9.2 points. Freeman averages 11.8 points per game, while Alston Mason averages 11.0 points and a team-high 3.5 assists.
Heading to Lawrence for a date with the blueblood Jayhawks will be among the biggest tests on Arizona State’s schedule in its first go-around in the Big 12. The Sun Devils believe that they are ready to prove their mettle.
“We’re very confident,” Freeman said. “As long as we come in here and we play our basketball, I feel like we got a chance with anybody in the country. I feel like (with) how we play, how fast we play, and how physical we are on defense, we got a very great chance to win.”
–Field Level Media
