Texas Tech heads back to Allen Fieldhouse for the first time in two seasons while being a year removed from the near-30 point dismantling of the Jayhawks in Lubbock last campaign. It has been a shaky last month or so for Bill Self’s team, who were dropping every other game before finally finding some stable footing in their two previous outings against Oklahoma State and Colorado.
There’s two games you can point to that probably make the outlook of this Kansas team a bit different, those being the home loss to Houston in 2OT and the collapse against Baylor in Waco. The Jayhawks’ best win of the Big 12 slate, in my best estimation, is the win over Iowa State in Lawrence.
Let’s dive into some numbers ahead of this star-studded matchup…
Texas Tech: KenPom 8, Offense 10, Defense 27
- The Jayhawks are scratching on the door of being top 20 once again after falling out of that measure because of their back-to-back losses to the Utah schools.
- Allen Fieldhouse is ranked as the 14th-best home court advantage in college basketball this year by KenPom, who has the USA at 5th in the country. Kansas has lost two games at home this year, the aforementioned Houston and the unlikely Big 12 opener against West Virginia. That game feels like an eternity ago.
- The most frequent lineup that Self employs is G Dajuan Harris, G Zeke Mayo, F Rylan Griffen, F KJ Adams and C Hunter Dickinson. This lineup sees the floor 29.2 percent of the time. The next closest lineup replaces Dickinson for C Flory Bidunga and is only on the floor 6.1 percent of the time.
- Obviously a lot of familiarity with most of these players and how they play. Kansas is actually No. 1 in the country in experience, with an average D-1 Experience of 3.62 years.
- Hunter Dickinson hit his stride again the other night, scoring 32 points on a rather efficient 13-18 from the field. It was his best statistical showing of the season and his 12th-straight game scoring in double figures.
- Harris, the other old man in town, continues to be the catalyst for the Kansas offense, leading the team in assists and is second in the league behind Elijah Hawkins. Harris boasts a top-100 assist rate in the country at 29.5 percent.
- Transfers Mayo, Griffen and backup guard David Coit are the three highest volume shooters from range. Mayo is the only 40-plus percent three point shooter on the team, averaging 40.1 percent and leading the squad with 172 attempts from deep. Mayo has also hit multiple triples in 16 games this season, so he is without a doubt the Jayhawks’ most volatile shooter from range.
- While none of Kansas’ offensive stats will jump off the page at you, their defensive numbers are rather impressive and cause for pause. The Jayhawks are holding opponents to an Effective FG percentage of 45, good enough for No. 8 in the country. Kansas is also No. 13 in both 2-point and 3-point percentage, holding opponents to 45.4 percent inside the arc and 29.5 percent outside of it.
- Dickinson and backup center Bidunga have combined this season for 86 blocks this season, helping lead Kansas to No. 26 in block percentage at 13.6 percent.
- While they won’t turn teams over a ton, actually one of the worst teams in the Big 12 in terms of forcing TOs, Kansas does defend well and can defend for long stretches.
@ALL HANDS
There’s two games you can point to that probably make the outlook of this Kansas team a bit different, those being the home loss to Houston in 2OT and the collapse against Baylor in Waco. The Jayhawks’ best win of the Big 12 slate, in my best estimation, is the win over Iowa State in Lawrence.
Let’s dive into some numbers ahead of this star-studded matchup…
Texas Tech: KenPom 8, Offense 10, Defense 27
- The Red Raiders fell back one spot in the overall KenPom rankings after holding serve at No. 7 for what felt like some time.
- KenPom is projecting Tech to drop this one against Kansas, 72-71, with a 45 percent chance of winning
- The Jayhawks are scratching on the door of being top 20 once again after falling out of that measure because of their back-to-back losses to the Utah schools.
- Allen Fieldhouse is ranked as the 14th-best home court advantage in college basketball this year by KenPom, who has the USA at 5th in the country. Kansas has lost two games at home this year, the aforementioned Houston and the unlikely Big 12 opener against West Virginia. That game feels like an eternity ago.
- The most frequent lineup that Self employs is G Dajuan Harris, G Zeke Mayo, F Rylan Griffen, F KJ Adams and C Hunter Dickinson. This lineup sees the floor 29.2 percent of the time. The next closest lineup replaces Dickinson for C Flory Bidunga and is only on the floor 6.1 percent of the time.
- Obviously a lot of familiarity with most of these players and how they play. Kansas is actually No. 1 in the country in experience, with an average D-1 Experience of 3.62 years.
- Hunter Dickinson hit his stride again the other night, scoring 32 points on a rather efficient 13-18 from the field. It was his best statistical showing of the season and his 12th-straight game scoring in double figures.
- Harris, the other old man in town, continues to be the catalyst for the Kansas offense, leading the team in assists and is second in the league behind Elijah Hawkins. Harris boasts a top-100 assist rate in the country at 29.5 percent.
- Transfers Mayo, Griffen and backup guard David Coit are the three highest volume shooters from range. Mayo is the only 40-plus percent three point shooter on the team, averaging 40.1 percent and leading the squad with 172 attempts from deep. Mayo has also hit multiple triples in 16 games this season, so he is without a doubt the Jayhawks’ most volatile shooter from range.
- While none of Kansas’ offensive stats will jump off the page at you, their defensive numbers are rather impressive and cause for pause. The Jayhawks are holding opponents to an Effective FG percentage of 45, good enough for No. 8 in the country. Kansas is also No. 13 in both 2-point and 3-point percentage, holding opponents to 45.4 percent inside the arc and 29.5 percent outside of it.
- Dickinson and backup center Bidunga have combined this season for 86 blocks this season, helping lead Kansas to No. 26 in block percentage at 13.6 percent.
- While they won’t turn teams over a ton, actually one of the worst teams in the Big 12 in terms of forcing TOs, Kansas does defend well and can defend for long stretches.
@ALL HANDS
