Kansas chilly from beyond the arc in win over East Tennessee State: ‘We are streaky’
After hitting 43.1% of its threes through three games, Kansas’ perimeter players suffered through an abysmal 1 of 14 outing against East Tennessee State on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
The atrocious 7.1% shooting drops the 3-1 Jayhawks’ overall three-point mark to 36.7% heading into next week’s Maui Invitational.
“Guys, we are going to be like this. That’s who we are,” KU coach Bill Self said after the No. 4-ranked Jayhawks were outscored 27-3 from three in a 75-63 victory over ETSU. “We aren’t going to average making a little over 10 threes a game. That’s not real. Making one is not real either.”
KU hit 4 of 9 threes in a loss to Duke, 10 of 26 in a victory over UNC Greensboro and 14 of 30 in a win over Monmouth.
“We can be a team that can shoot 35% from three, 36, 37 from three if we shoot it well. We can have some bad nights because we are streaky. Those nights you throw it inside. Fortunately we were able to do that,” Self said.
The Jayhawks converted 29 of 40 two-point tries for 72.5% against 3-1 ETSU, the team picked to win the Southern Conference.
“They did a good job pressuring out,” Self said. “We were a little sped up shooting the ball. We’ve shot real well at practice of late. We needed a game where we needed to execute down the stretch. For the most part we did OK.”
Graduate transfer Isaiah Moss, who made five threes and scored 21 points off the bench in a 112-57 win over Monmouth on Friday, missed two three-point attempts without a make in 17 minutes Tuesday. He was 2 of 2 from the line, good for two points with one assist, two turnovers and a steal and a rebound.
“He got a little out of whack,” Self said of the 6-foot-5 Moss. “He didn’t make a couple open looks. His ballhandling was poor the second half. How many times did we have numbers and screw it up and leave numbers for them? We’ve got to correct that. We can’t have numbers and turn it over and give the other team layups. That’s what happened a couple times tonight. Isaiah has to be better with the ball. He was too careless.”
KU did total 14 steals, while ETSU also had double-digits thefts with 11. KU freshman wing Tristan Enaruna had four steals; Marcus Garrett and Udoka Azubuike three apiece.
“Tristan was active, four steals, four points (but) shot a big airball late,” Self said. Enaruna finished with four points to go with his four assists, four steals and four rebounds. “He is growing up.”
Sophomore combo guard Ochai Agbaji was 0 for 4 from three and for the year is 5 of 20. He finished with four points, three rebounds and two assists in 34 minutes.
“I don’t think Och had a tremendous game offensively,” Self said. “I thought he defended well. He seemed in tune. One thing Och is not doing is rebounding. He could be the best offensive rebounder in the country. He’s not getting his hands on as many balls. He didn’t make shots. Nobody did though. As long as he keeps doing other things to help the team win, we’re OK with that,” Self added.
KU will next meet Chaminade at 8 p.m. Monday at the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii. The Jayhawks will have an off day Wednesday, practice Thursday, then travel to Hawaii on Friday morning. The team will practice Saturday and Sunday in Hawaii in advance of Monday’s game, Self said.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Kansas chilly from beyond the arc in win over East Tennessee State: ‘We are streaky’."
