KU, behind barrage of threes, tops West Virginia in matchup of top-10 ranked teams
Bill Self is in favor of Kansas’ basketball players firing up long-range three-pointers … when they are falling and helping the Jayhawks win games.
“He was joking around with us during the game. He put me and Jalen (Wilson) back in and said something about, ‘There’s four minutes left I know you all are going to let it fly,’’’ KU sophomore wing Christian Braun said of his coach’s comments during a timeout with 3:15 remaining in No. 3-ranked KU’s 79-65 victory over No 7-ranked West Virginia on Tuesday night in Allen Fieldhouse.
It was a victory made possible because of the three-ball. KU (8-1, 2-0) hit 16 threes in 37 tries, compared to (7-2, 1-1) West Virginia’s 8 of 23. The 37 attempts were most ever by a KU team in a conference game. Old high was 36 against Iowa State on Jan. 9, 2018. The 16 makes were one off a team-high in a conference game. KU hit 17 against Texas on Dec. 29, 2017.
Braun was 6 of 12 from three good for 22 points; Jalen Wilson 4 of 10 from three for 17 points; Marcus Garrett 3 of 3 from beyond the arc for 15 points and Ochai Agbaji 3 of 10 for 11 points.
“It just worked out that way,” Braun said of KU firing away from beyond the arc. “To be honest, going into the game we didn’t think they’d let us catch. The way they guard they are aggressive. We didn’t think they’d let us get shots up. They came out with a different game plan.”
The Jayhawks worked around the ball unselfishly. Big man David McCormack, who had 10 points and 11 boards, had three assists. Braun had seven assists and Wilson four.
“We were open,” said Braun, who tied a career high in threes made in a game with his six. “I know you all (media) saw it. We were letting it fly, me, Jalen, ‘Och’ were letting it go and Marcus hit a couple. They didn’t guard us. When they are not guarding us we are going to be open.”
The Jayhawks appreciated the passes from KU big man McCormack, KU’s 6-10 junior forward who put up nine shots of his own, hitting four.
“David was great today,” Braun said. “He played great defense down low (forward Derek Culver had eight points and eight boards; post man Oscar Tshiebwe three points, five boards). Dave was great. He hit me at least twice, maybe more, posting up and kicking it out. He was finding the open man and finishing David was on a roll. That’s what he does,” Braun added.
In all, KU hit 28 of 63 shots for 44.4%. The 16 of 37 threes were good for 43.2%.
“They were basically giving us open shots. We had to take them,” Garrett said after hitting 6 of 8 shots. Braun was 7 of 14 overall, Wilson 6 of 14 and Agbaji 4 of 14.
Of his own role as a ball mover Tuesday, McCormack said: “I realize how teams are playing me. As a player I said, ‘How would I play against myself?’ I kicked it out for a lot of open looks, something I’m trying to do. It makes the game a lot easier knowing if I get it in the post and kick out it’s an automatic three.”
The Jayhawks ended up winning the battle from three after witnessing a lights-out performance from guard Sean McNeil, who scored 20 points the first half after going 6 of 6 from three. McNeil finished with 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting, 0-for-4 from three the final half. WVU was 7 of 12 from three the first half and 1 of 11 the second.
“The whole thing,” Self said, “is we’ve got good shooters and shooters can get hot and become great shooters. I thought we had some great possessions,” he added. “The ball moved. We looked like we were a little more comfortable knowing where our shots were going to come from. Everybody was aggressive, nobody was thirsty. Whoever the open guy was …. Jalen had space he was shooting. C.B. (Braun) had space he was shooting, same for Ochai,” Self added.
Guard Miles McBride had 19 points for WVU, which now is 0-9 in Allen, all with Bob Huggins as head coach. Huggins, the sixth winningest coach of all time, also lost a game in Allen with Kansas State, making him 0-10 in the tradition-rich building. The Mountaineers hit 41.3% of their shots and were outrebounded 40-37.
The Jayhawks now break for the Christmas holiday. The players will head to their hometowns or hometowns of friends and return on Dec. 27. Next game is Jan. 2 against Texas in Allen.
This story was originally published December 22, 2020 at 10:08 PM with the headline "KU, behind barrage of threes, tops West Virginia in matchup of top-10 ranked teams."
