Christian Braun plays role of ‘rim protector’ in KU Jayhawks’ win over Tarleton State
Kansas junior guard Christian Braun had never skied for more than two blocks in a college basketball game until Friday night’s 2021-22 home opener against Tarleton State.
Braun, a 6-foot-6, 218-pound native of Burlington, Kansas, who is one of the Jayhawks’ most proficient three-point shooters, swatted five shots on the defensive end in KU’s 88-62 victory over the Texans before 16,300 fans at Allen Fieldhouse.
Senior big man David McCormack also had a career high in rejections with a game-high-tying five, while senior guard Ochai Agbaji had one block to go with his game-high 25 points as the Jayhawks took care of the guard-oriented Texans and won their 49th consecutive home opener.
“I told the guys I was a rim protector in high school at Blue Valley Northwest,” Braun said after the game. “No … I haven’t had five blocks in a game before,” he added with a smile.
KU coach Bill Self noted that Agbaji, who scored a career-high 29 points in Tuesday’s season-opening victory over Michigan State at the Champions Classic in New York “was the best player in game. He was great, efficient.”
Yet Self quickly added: “C.B. (Braun) probably had the most well-rounded game. What did he have 15, eight, five and five?”
Yes … as Self stated Braun had 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting (1 of 3 from three and 2 of 2 from the free-throw line) with eight boards, five assists and the five blocks in 31 minutes.
“I’d say the most impressive thing,” Self stated, “would be the blocked shots. He (Braun) kept them in play. We made some mistakes defensively (against the Texans who were led by guards Shamir Bogues and Montre Gipson who had 20 and 19 points respectively). David and C.B. covered up for several of those.”
KU freshman guard Bobby Pettiford, who had four points, three boards and three assists against no turnovers in 17 minutes, said Braun’s ability to block shots “was surprising to the defense. He’s a big guard, and he used it to his advantage. They had trouble getting past him to the rim.”
According to College B-ball Ref’s play index, Braun became the first NCAA player with 15-plus points, eight-plus rebounds, five-plus assists and five-plus blocks in a game since the 2019-20 season. Also, only three guards total have accomplished the feat since 2010.
Braun said he was more impressed with the 6-foot-10, 250-pound McCormack’s vicious blocks than his own.
“I think the bigs were pretty impressive moving their feet,” Braun said. “Mine was probably bad defense. Somebody probably got behind me and I ended up getting ‘em from behind. Dave and Mitch (Lightfoot, two points, three rebounds, nine minutes) did a good job moving their feet. That’s what we’ve been working on … defense,” Braun said.
Of Oak Park High school graduate Agbaji’s second productive game in a row, Braun said: “I would say he’s trusting his work. He worked hard this offseason. Today he was in the gym a lot. He’s as confident as he’s ever been. That’s good to see.”
Agbaji hit 11 of 16 shots. He was 3 of 7 from three with six rebounds in 35 minutes.
Agbaji has scored 54 points in KU’s first two games. That’s most by any player in the 19-year Bill Self era through two games. Frank Mason had 51 combined points versus Indiana and Duke in 2016-17.
“He is believing in himself,” Pettiford said of Agbaji. “Besides being confident, he’s playing to his abilities. He’s aggressive. He knows he’s the best player on the team and playing like that.”
Senior guard Remy Martin had 14 points and six rebounds, while senior guard Jalen Coleman-Lands had 10 points for the (2-0) Jayhawks, who will next meet Stony Brook at 7 p.m. Thursday at Allen Fieldhouse.
“We played pretty well,” Self said. “They play so hard,” he added of his former assistant Billy Gillispie’s Texans. “It’s a different style. The game went exactly as I thought it’d go. We had a chance to crack it open the first half (instead KU led 39-31 at half). We gave them four points to end the half by kind of quitting on plays.
“The second half we were very efficient,” Self added. KU outscored the (0-2) Texans of the Western Athletic Conference, 49-31, the final half. “Our bench was 10-of-13 (shooting from the field) with eight assists, four turnovers. A lot of good things happened.”
Cuffe will redshirt
KU freshman guard Kyle Cuffe did not suit up for the game. Self confirmed after the game that the 6-2 native of Harlem, New York will redshirt with Cam Martin and walk-on Dillon Wilhite. Cuffe will practice, but he will not play in games this season.
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 11:21 PM with the headline "Christian Braun plays role of ‘rim protector’ in KU Jayhawks’ win over Tarleton State."
