Azubuike dominates paint, scores 21 points in KU’s 75-63 victory over ETSU
East Tennessee State, which had a 7-footer of its own, played Kansas big man Udoka Azubuike straight-up — one man versus one man — on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
It wasn’t the best idea.
Azubuike, a 7-foot, 270-pound senior from Nigeria, scored a season-best 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting — he also had seven rebounds, four blocks and three steals — in the No. 4-ranked Jayhawks’ 75-63 victory over the team picked to win the Southern Conference — one ranked No. 2 in the country in Collegeinsider.com’s latest mid-major poll.
“You see what happens when you don’t double-team him,” KU guard Marcus Garrett said after scoring 13 points of his own with six rebounds, three assists and three of KU’s 14 steals.
Azubuike, who had scored 30 points and taken 17 shots total in KU’s first three games, said it makes all the difference when he faces single coverage.
“I was excited. This was the first team to not double-team me,” said Azubuike. He was 1 of 4 from the line; his teammates 13 of 14. East Tennessee State (3-1) was 8 of 15 from the stripe. Overall KU (3-1) hit 55.6% of its shots; ETSU 38.3%.
“I just used that to my advantage. When you don’t double-team me … I had the lane to myself. Then the guys did a good job of feeding me the ball. It worked,” he added.
Azubuike said it has been hard to escape being the focal point of the defenses of Duke, UNC Greensboro and Monmouth prior to Tuesday.
“It’s always packed when I’m playing,” Azubuike said of the lane. “This time around it was spread out. That helped me out, gave me confidence.”
He wasn’t KU’s only effective big man on a night the Jayhawks went 1 of 14 from three (to ETSU’s 9 of 30) and 29 of 40 from two (72.5%). Silvio De Sousa scored four points in a 10-4 run that opened a 61-56 lead with 5:46 left to 71-60 with fewer than two minutes to play. De Sousa also had two blocks down the stretch as KU was able to hang on after seeing an 18-point first-half lead dip to five. Garrett and De Sousa scored 10 points during a 14-7 KU run to close the game.
“If you told me they’d outscore us 24 points from three before the game I’d say we’d be in serious trouble,” KU coach Bill Self said.
“We haven’t been good post feeders. Tonight it was easier for Doke because they didn’t trap. Of course it’s harder to trap when they play four guards. If we are not bullying people with two bigs, we’re better off playing small at least to this point,” added Self. Forward David McCormack had four points and three boards in just 12 minutes and De Sousa eight points, three blocks and a steal in nine minutes. Azubuike played 28 minutes.
“It does space the floor better when we have four guards out there,” said Self, noting freshman wing Tristan Enaruna “gave great minutes off the bench (with his four points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals in 23 minutes).”
Point guard Devon Dotson scored 19 points with six assists in 34 minutes He connected with Azubuike on some of Doke’s buckets.
“It was very effective this game,” Dotson said of the inside game, “being conscious and aware of the bigs, seeing their position, trying to get them touches, playing to the rim more.”
Azubuike was so effective that coach Steve Forbes of ETSU described him this way: “Doke ... he’s like another planet out there. He’s so big.”
Azubuike grinned when informed the coach’s statement.
“It’s an honor to hear the coach of that team say that. He’s a great coach and they have a great team,” Azubuike said.
Azubuike missed three of four free throws. The one he hit was after Self yelled at him to “shoot” despite it appearing that an ETSU player hopped in the lane early.
“He was going to hand the ball back to the official. I yelled, ‘shoot it,’’’ Self said. “It looked pure when it left his hand because he was not thinking.”
Self joked that maybe he’ll have to yell at Azubuike before attempts in the future. For the year, he’s 5 of 15 from the line.
“I’m not worried about my free throws,” Azubuike said. “I know it’ll get better. I go with a free mind and shoot.”
KU will next meet Chaminade at 8 p.m. Central time Monday in a first-round Maui Invitational game in Hawaii. Tuesday’s game was billed as a mainland game in the tourney.
Game notes
KU leads the all-time series with ETSU, 4-0. The Jayhawks rolled, 108-73, in the last meeting on Jan. 4, 1996 at Allen Fieldhouse. … KU has won 23 straight games in Allen. … KU is 791-113 all-time in Allen, 253-13 in the fieldhouse under coach Bill Self. … Self is 476-107 at KU and 683-212 for his career. … Steve Forbes, a former Wichita State assistant, is 103-40 in four seasons at ETSU. … ETSU is 0-12 vs. current Big 12 teams. Last time the Bucs faced a Big 12 foe was on Dec. 8, 2007 when Oklahoma State won, 78-65. … ETSU has won five games against Power Five programs since the 2007-08 season. The Bucs beat Mississippi State in 2016-17 and 2010-11, Georgia Tech in 2015-16, Arkansas in 2009-10 and Georgia in 2007-08.
Injury note
Freshman guard Jalen Wilson, who had surgery to repair a broken left ankle on Nov. 11, will not be making the trip to Maui with the Jayhawks, coach Bill Self said on his weekly Hawk Talk radio show.
Wilson’s recovery time has been listed as 10 to 12 weeks.
“We’d love for him to go. He can’t put any pressure on it at all,” Self said. “He would be in a situation with sutures we don’t want to risk certain things. He’ll hang out with his family (over Thanksgiving). They had to cancel their trip. They were planning on going.”
Self said it is likely Wilson will redshirt his freshman season.
“The whole thing is is takes so long for that bone to heal. He will be non weight bearing for six weeks,” Self said. “You are looking at Jan. 1 before he’s even walking around and have weight on the foot. Close to Jan. 1 he may be able to get into the pool and do some things. Maybe by the end of January if things go well he might progress to playing.
“You are still looking at some time before he can step in and help you. Now you are down to four to six weeks (left in season). Could he help us enough four to six weeks to warrant not redshirting him? We’ll wait and decide that. The percentage play is probably he will redshirt the rest of the year. We’ll wait and see what happens,” Self added.
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 9:11 PM with the headline "Azubuike dominates paint, scores 21 points in KU’s 75-63 victory over ETSU."
