Devonté Graham watches from the stands as KU upends Tad Boyle’s Buffs 72-58
Charlotte Hornets point guard Devonté Graham, one of the NBA’s biggest surprise success stories in this, his second year in the league, took advantage of a rare off day Saturday to attend the Kansas-Colorado game at Allen Fieldhouse.
He attended the team meal before the game, then spoke to the squad in the locker room after the Jayhawks’ 72-58 victory. Graham, a former Jayhawk, planned on getting some rest before a 6 a.m. flight back to North Carolina, where the Hornets will tangle with the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s pretty cool how he came back to support us,” Charlotte, North Carolina native Devon Dotson said after scoring 18 points with six assists and four rebounds in 36 minutes. Dotson was one of three Jayhawks to score in double digits. Ochai Agbaji had 20 points and a career-high 12 rebounds and Udoka Azubuike 12 points and six boards.
“He (Graham) was happy with our defense,” noted junior Marcus Garrett, who swiped four steals with six assists and four points in 29 minutes.
Yes, Graham would have no choice but to return to Charlotte feeling his No. 2-ranked alma mater has a stellar defensive unit at this point of the season.
Garrett led a swarming defense that held the previously undefeated, No. 20-ranked Buffs to 30 percent shooting (7 of 34 from three). KU, 7-1, which hit 52.9 percent was 6 of 13 from three but 6 of 7 the final half.
Garrett was primary defender on Colorado forward deluxe Tyler Bey, who scored just five points on 1-of-3 shooting. Bey, who played 25 minutes, injured his leg with six minutes left and was helped to the locker room, coach Tad Boyle indicating he did not initially believe it was serious.
“We are pretty connected on the defensive end,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. We’ve gotten much better switching. Offensively I will not say we’re quite as connected. Defensively we are pretty connected. That’s a result of having three good perimeter defenders. Marcus can guard anybody. It helps to have individuals who are good defensively who understand the team concept.”
The Jayhawks were talking defense after winning their seventh consecutive game since a season-opening loss to Duke.
“No question this team is better defensively than the last two teams we’ve had,” said Self, whose squad led the Buffs 34-22 at halftime. “I do think we can get really good on that end.”
Dotson said: “I can’t even single anybody out. I think as a team we were pretty great. We held them to 50-some points and communicated for the most part.”
Former KU guard Boyle, who received a nice ovation in pre-game introductions, was not enamored with his squad’s play on offense. Forward Evan Battey (14 points) was the only Buffalo player to reach double-digit scoring.
“(That’s) not the way we wanted to come back to Allen Fieldhouse and show,” Boyle said after the game. “We couldn’t make shots tonight. We had some good looks. It’s not like our team to take 34 of our 60 shots from three. Sometimes KU makes you do things you don’t want to do.
“KU beat us tonight very soundly. People will see that score. It was not as close as the score indicated. I credit our guys for not giving up and fighting until the end. It’s what we can take away from this.”
Colorado point guard McKinley Wright was held to eight points with two assists in 33 minutes. It added up to Colorado’s 30th straight loss in Allen Fieldhouse. Boyle has brought three teams to Allen in his 10 years at Colorado, his squad losing by 14, 26 and 36 points.
Overall, Boyle’s teams are 1-5 versus KU with the Jayhawks set to make a return trip to Boulder next season.
Of the game, Self assessed: “I think we played real well defensively. We had a chance to crack them. We never put our foot on their throat. We were so careless with the ball. When they did get open shots we were fortunate they didn’t make ’em. Then that occurs you’ve got to find a way to step on the pedal. It still was a solid win.”
One witnessed by 24-year-old former KU standout Graham, who leads the Hornets in scoring (19.1 points per game) and assists (7.8) in 2019-20.
“Devonté is in touch with our guys all the time,” Self said. “It’s always great to see him. He loves this place. He has an off day today. They play tomorrow and he’s in Lawrence today. It’s always good. One thing Devonté did tell our guys afterward … when you play a team like Colorado who has a good team and you control the game and it’s a 22-point game with three minutes left and you end up winning by 14, you don’t leave here feeling near as good. We didn’t finish the game right. He did tell the guys, ‘That’s my biggest pet peeve.’ Hopefully they listen to him because they don’t (listen to) me very well,” Self added, smiling.
Kansas will next meet Milwaukee at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse.
Game Notes: Kansas leads the all-time series against Colorado 124-40 including a 54-5 mark versus Colorado in Allen Fieldhouse. Colorado won the first meeting, 34-25, on Jan. 2, 1931 in Denver. The Jayhawks had lost the last meeting 75-72 on Dec. to 7, 2013, at Coors Events Center in Boulder. … KU has won 47 of the last 49 meetings versus the Buffs dating to 1991. … Colorado’s last win against KU in Allen was 75-74 on Feb. 10, 1983. Since then, KU has defeated Colorado 30 straight times in Allen. … KU has won 24 straight games in Allen. KU has won 12 straight against nonconference foes in Allen, dating to the 2017-18 season. Last loss was to Arizona State. … KU is 126-5 vs. nonconference foes in Allen in the Bill Self era. … KU is 45-6 versus ranked teams in Allen in the Self era. The Jayhawks have won eight in a row in Allen against ranked foes. … Self is 480-107 while at Kansas and 687-212 for his career. KU’s all-time record is 2,281-860. … Boyle is 196-124 in 10 seasons at Colorado. … Colorado is 92-30 in nonconference regular season games in the 10-year Boyle era, including a 45-13 mark (.789) since 2014-15.
This story was originally published December 7, 2019 at 8:25 PM with the headline "Devonté Graham watches from the stands as KU upends Tad Boyle’s Buffs 72-58."
