Three KU basketball freshmen contribute in win at Indiana: ‘We are growing up’
The three University of Kansas freshmen who combined to play 40 minutes in the Jayhawks’ 75-71 victory against Indiana on Saturday at historic Assembly Hall figured to gain a lot of experience competing in a close game before a hostile crowd of 17,222.
“I mean it’s two blue bloods going against each other. Of course it was a great environment,” first-year KU guard Jamari McDowell said after a hard-earned victory — one in which KU trailed by 13 points five minutes into the second half.
“It’s Indiana, a historic program. It was super energetic, nothing like Allen Fieldhouse or anything, but a great environment,” added McDowell. He scored three points on 1-of-2 3-point shooting with one rebound, one assist and one turnover in eight minutes.
McDowell drilled one 3 from the corner with 9:18 left, slicing a 58-50 deficit to 58-53. He also missed badly from 3, firing up an airball in the first half.
“I’m getting more and more confidence in him,” KU coach Bill Self said of the 6-foot-4 Houston newcomer.
Freshman guard Johnny Furphy, who blocked a shot of IU’s Kaleb Banks with 11:37 left in the first half, finished with one point and two rebounds in seven minutes.
Also, freshman guard Elmarko Jackson scored five points on 2-of-6 shooting (1-of-3 from 3) with three assists, two steals, one rebound and one turnover in 25 minutes.
“It feels great coming into an arena like this, similar to Allen Fieldhouse with a lot of history behind it and great fans,” Jackson said. “This is probably the greatest win we’ve had as a team (in improving to 10-1).”
Of his own performance, KU’s starting combo guard said: “Getting assists (two) in the first half and (doing) a little scoring in the second (five points) and staying locked in defensively felt good. I’m trying to contribute more and more and be ready when it really matters most in March.”
He said he’s not surprised KU battled back from 13 down on Saturday.
“We are a veteran-oriented team. We work on situations like this at practice, being down and in a tight game where we have to fight back and crawl back,” Jackson said. “I think it’s the nature of our team. We’re fighters, not quitters. We saw it in games like Kentucky at the Champions Classic. We were down 14 (and rallied to win). We’ll find a way. You can never count us out.”
Of the play of freshmen Jackson, McDowell and Furphy, Self said: “I think I’m glad we played at Illinois. The exhibition game (on Oct. 29 in which KU fell 82-75 before a loud crowd in Champaign, Illinois) probably helped us a little bit. We are growing up.”
Self now has coached against Indiana four times in Assembly Hall. He actually was 2-1 as coach at Illinois, the one loss 88-57 in 2001-02.
“The last time I came here (Tom) Coverdale, (Dane) Fife and (Kyle) Hornsby went 16-of-21 from 3. The thing I remember most is I got a chance to meet John Mellencamp. I thought that was the highlight of the deal,” Self said of the Indiana grad. “He actually sent a note back to me after we got beat by 30 saying, ‘Hey, I’m playing in Chicago if you ever want to come.’ That’s probably my fondest memory of this place until today. This place reminds me of KU, great tradition, people respect it (basketball). That’s two true blue bloods out there playing.
“You can kind of sense it’s different here from most places where you kind of have to manufacture the atmosphere. Here you don’t and you don’t have to at Kansas either. It felt a little different that way,” Self added.
This story was originally published December 17, 2023 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Three KU basketball freshmen contribute in win at Indiana: ‘We are growing up’."
