How Jalen Wilson — and some payback — saved Kansas Jayhawks basketball vs. Texas Tech
At game point, Jalen Wilson saved Kansas with his defense — while also trying to do something he hadn’t executed all season.
Sports are fun, in part, because of the storylines, so knowing where to look for this one in KU’s 94-91 double-overtime victory against Texas Tech only makes the final result all the more fascinating.
This night, more than anything, will be remembered for Ochai Agbaji’s performance and 37-point effort, which included a clutch game-tying three at the end of the first overtime.
All those heroics might’ve still fallen short, though, if Wilson didn’t come through with his defensive gambit late.
“It was a great play,” teammate Christian Braun said, after getting the closest look.
Here’s where things stood: KU led 92-91 with 55 seconds left in double overtime, with Texas Tech dribbling it up top with a chance to take the lead.
KU’s defensive attention — for good reason — was focused on the Red Raiders’ Bryson Williams. He’d already scored 33 points on 14 of 19 shooting, and while KJ Adams had done the best job defending him, the Jayhawks still were going to try to get it out of his hands.
So when Williams got the ball outside the right block, KU’s defense began to shift. Dajuan Harris deserted his man to camp in the middle of the lane. Braun also sank from the wing, staying a few feet away from Williams to give the appearance of help.
Williams saw it and responded. He threw the ball back out to teammate Kevin McCullar, with Braun gambling for a steal and missing. McCullar turned toward the rim and dribbled once, getting past Braun while putting both feet in the lane.
And this is where Wilson pulled a shocker while leaving the man he was defending behind.
At a critical moment, he stepped forward in an attempt to give Texas Tech a whopping heap of its own medicine.
In front of the lane’s semicircle, he positioned two hands in front of a sensitive spot before bracing for contact.
Wilson — to that moment — had taken zero charges all year.
“I was trying to,” Wilson said later about attempting to take a charge.
This, of course, isn’t typically how Self’s defenses operate.
KU’s game notes entering the game said the team had taken 19 charges in 18 games this season. A combined 13 of those were from the point-guard position, leaving just six total for the players best fitting Wilson’s description.
The Jayhawks’ opponent Monday, meanwhile, was among the most charge-reliant defensive teams in the nation. An example: During KU’s road loss to Texas Tech earlier this month, Jalen Coleman-Lands drove on one occasion and had two Texas Tech players topple underneath him. A nearby official called the offensive foul, without having to signal which Red Raider was officially on the receiving end.
It’s been this way for a while. Texas Tech’s defense has ranked top 15 nationally in “non-steal turnover rate” — a stat greatly dominated by charge-taking teams — each of the last four seasons, including this one under first-year coach Mark Adams.
The Red Raiders also made life miserable on the Jayhawks in Lubbock a few weeks ago by tiptoeing into place and pulling out the chair to force giveaways. Wilson, himself, had four turnovers in KU’s 75-67 loss, then looked timid down the stretch while looking to avoid all contact.
So perhaps turn-around was fair play here as Wilson stood and waited and held his ground.
It all spooked McCullar. The guard — one Wilson knew from playing against him in high school and during AAU Tournaments in Texas — stopped his momentum while adjusting unexpectedly.
Wilson reacted as well. He instinctively shot his hands up, deflecting a McCullar pass that eventually ricocheted to Harris a few feet away.
The box score gave Wilson credit for the steal.
“I read that he wasn’t going to go all the way,” Wilson said, rewatching film of the play on a laptop computer while standing midcourt at Allen Fieldhouse about an hour afterward, “so I backed up real quick.”
That helped clinch it for KU. After a missed shot on the Jayhawks’ next possession, Braun chased down an offensive rebound and made two free throws. Terrence Shannon’s desperation three to tie it wasn’t close, and KU escaped with a third straight three-point win.
Wilson hasn’t taken charges often for KU, but he did admit the ones he’d had follow a pattern.
Late Monday night, he could only remember two from last season: One in Lubbock — against Texas Tech — and another at Allen Fieldhouse ... yep, coming against the Red Raiders as well.
His mindset on that crucial possession in double overtime, then?
“They’re taking their charges all game,” Wilson said with a smile, “so maybe we can get one in.”
Wilson tried and failed Monday, but still prevailed in the end.
While saving Texas Tech’s own ploy for the moment it mattered most.
This story was originally published January 25, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How Jalen Wilson — and some payback — saved Kansas Jayhawks basketball vs. Texas Tech."
