Know Your Foe: Kansas Jayhawks
2023-2024 record: 22-10 (10-8)
Last game: 72-52 L vs Cincinnati (March 13)
Head Coach: Bill Self (21st year)
Last meeting: N/A - First Ever Meeting
TV: TBS, Tip: 8:55PM CT
KenPom Ranking: 22nd
Fun Fact: Only the 6th time in school history that Kansas is a 4-seed
Well what a time to be alive. Samford and Bucky Ball are dancing in the NCAA Tournament. In a great event in downtown Homewood on Selection Sunday, Samford heard their name called, setting up a showdown with the 4-seeded Kansas Jayhawks. The two-time national champion head coach in Bill Self against the former high school coach in Bucky McMillan.
Samford is on the biggest stage in sports after the best season in school history. Bucky McMillan, the Deliver of Promises delivered saying that Samford will play in the NCAA Tournament in his first press conference in 2020. Well here we are, let’s dive into the matchup with the Big 12’s Kansas Jayhawks
Team Overview:
Kansas is making their 51st NCAA Tournament appearance albeit with their “worst” team by their standards. Kansas finished with 10 overall losses for only the third time in the Bill Self era. They finished with eight Big 12 losses, the most ever in a single season.
All of that being said, Kansas is still Kansas. They won eight games against NCAA Tournament teams in the regular season including a win over the now number one overall seed UConn Huskies. Kansas ranks 66th in offensive efficiency and 11th in defensive efficiency per KenPom. The Jayhawks do share the ball extremely well ranking first in the entire country in assists per game with 18.8.
On defense, Kansas finished first in defensive rebounding in Big 12 play. Kansas is long with multiple guys who possess great length. Hunter Dickinson is 7’2”, Jonny Furphy is 6’9”, and KJ Adams is 6’7”. Those three will play the bulk of the minutes along with point guard Dajuan Harris.
Kansas is not a deep team as they do not have a rotation like Samford does. Their rotation shrinked even more as Bill Self announced that leading scorer Kevin McCullar, Jr. is out for Thursday with a lingering bone bruise issue in his knee. That definitely helps Samford as a guy who is 6’7” will not play.
Another thing that helps Samford is that Kansas has trouble defending the three point line. In his opening statement after Selection Sunday, that was the first thing that Bill Self mentioned in this Samford matchup. Samford shoots 40% from three as a team.
Shoutout to Coleman Crawley on Twitter in his breakdown of this matchup pointing to the Kansas three-point defense. Per ShotQuality, Kansas is 345th in the country in allowing high-quality threes. If Samford can get hot from outside, watch out.
Key Players Overview:
Hunter Dickinson is one of the best players in the entire country. Dickinson had 16 double-doubles this season while averaging a double-double, 18 points and 10 rebounds. Per KenPom, he shot 56% in Big 12 play from two-point. He is also capable of shooting the three-pointer. He is nursing a shoulder injury but it looks like he should be good to go for Thursday.
Dickinson, a Michigan transfer received a big NIL payday to come to the Jayhawks and he has been worth every penny.
One starter who will not be playing is senior forward Kevin McCullar, Jr. as we mentioned earlier. When healthy, McCullar was Kansas’s leading scorer and one of the best scorers in the country. It will be interesting to see who starts in his place, look for Towson transfer Nick Timberlake to start in that spot.
Their point guard Dajeaun Harris is a very experienced point guard who is a high assist player as well. Harris averaged 6.3 assists per game along with 8.3 points per game. He is not a good shooter as teams usually dare him to shoot from the outside. Harris shot 28% from three-point land in Big 12 play on just 35 attempts. However, he is crafty while being able to score in other areas.
The one who makes this team even more dangerous is potential lottery pick Johnny Furphy. Furphy shot 36% from three in Big 12 play who tends to shine when Kansas wins. In the Jayhawk’s last three losses, he has only combined for 17 points. Especially with McCullar out, Furphy is the X-factor for this squad.
KJ Adams is a very tough player. The matchup between him and Jermaine Marshall will definitely be one to watch. Adams scores the vast majority of his points in the paint but he will out muscle you for every rebound if you left him. Keeping him off of the offensive glass especially will be extremely key for Samford.
As Samford fans, this is what we have been waiting for. Samford is dancing and ready to make some noise. This team is extremely confident and doesn't feed into the noise of what playing a team like Kansas brings. It’s just another game against another opponent.
At the Selection Show party, I was able to talk with Achor Achor and I asked him if anything changes knowing it’s a great team like Kansas lined up against him. “At the end of the day, to be honest, they just wear a different name on the front of their jersey compared to me. It means nothing.”
That is the same mentality this team is taking. They have all the confidence in the world, now it’s time to go show out on the biggest stage. This is March.
