Comments and ObservationsWhen KU plays like that on offense, you can't even tell what defense the other team is playing. And to think I was worried what the Jayhawks would do against zone defenses this year without Julian Wright ... Offensive and Defensive Performance
Using the outcome of the game and the adjusted offensive and defensive efficiencies for each team, performance indicates (in PTS per 100 Possessions) how each team would have fared against an average team. That is, KU's offensive performance is how many points per 100 possessions KU would have scored against an average defense. This provides a standard performance we can compare across teams. | (pts per 100 poss) | Kansas | Nebraska
| Offensive Performance
| 126.1 | 82.3 | | Defensive Performance | 61.8
| 90.5 | Comments Complete domination on both sides from KU. The numbers above suggest that KU would have more than doubled up the average NCAA team on this day. That's a phenomenal performance. Nebraska did have a poor offensive performance, but this analysis would suggest it was even more KU's suffocating defense than poor NU offense. | Four Factor Analysis(Actual statistics moved to Game Projections table below) What did the difference in this
statistic mean to each team? | Scoring Margin Advantage Gained
(does not add up to game margin because teams may capitalize better or worse than average on TO's and OREB) | | Statistic Measured | Kansas | Nebraska | | eFG% | 33.1
| | | TO Rate | 1.7 |
| | O-Reb% | | 0.9 | | Freethrows | FT Pct | | 0.1 | | FT Attempts | 1.1
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Player Performance Analysis
KU's backcourt led the way this time. With the exception of Mario Chalmers, the KU backcourt all had efficiencies above +10.00! Robinson shot 100 eFG% and had 4 STL. Rush shot an eye-popping 106 eFG% and had 3 STL. Can you imagine what his rating would have been if not for his 5 TO on such an efficient day for KU? It probably would have fried my Excel program. To make matters worse for Nebraska, a third KU player shot at least 100 eFG% ... Collins finally had an amazing game. Maybe this will get him going for the tough stretch of games remaining.
All in all, six Jayhawk players shot at least 100 eFG%. Darrell Arthur wasn't one of them, but he did make 62 eFG% on his way to a team-leading 18 PTS and 7 REB. Unfortunately, Arthur also had 3 TO and made only 2-of-4 from the FT line. Darnell Jackson had another stellar performance, with 13 PTS, 8 REB and a shocking 5 AST on 50 eFG% shooting. If he'd made better than 3-of-7 from the charity stripe, he probably would have joined the backcourt with double-digit efficiency ratings. Rockrick Stewart also brought a solid game. He made both of his FT's, had 3 REB and 3 AST in just 13 MIN. He missed both his FG attempts though. Sasha Kaun had a poor outing, making only 3-of-7 FG, but he redeemed himself a bit with 3 STL. I'm sure Aleks Maric hates playing the Jayhawks. This time, he went scoreless in 21 MIN with 9 REB and 3 TO. For one of the best offensive players in the Big 12, that's impressive defense by KU. Only Harley and Balham had decent games for NU this day. Game Projections | | Projection | Actual | Comments | OVERALL RESULTS | | Final Score | KU 77-52
| KU 84-49
| | Tempo (# poss)
| 66 | 74 | Surprisingly fast-paced game, especially in light of how few turnovers there were!
| FOUR FACTORS ADVANTAGES
| | eFG% | KU 55-42% | KU 60-33%
| Against a Top 50 Pomeroy-rated team, this is an unbelievable advantage. | | TO Rate (lo better) | KU 26-20% | KU 21-18%
| | | O-Reb% | KU 36-24%
| NU 21-18%
| NU's low percent only made matters worse, but KU's low percent would have been troublesome if not for KU's incredible eFG% shooting advantage.
| | FT Rate | Tied 22% each
| KU 18-17%
| | Four Factors Overall
| KU's significant shooting edge will be reinforced with decent gains in TO and OREB% to produce a blowout.
| Every factor was virtually even except for the huge eFG% advantage for KU. This game was all about which team put itself in position to shoot well. | The comments were exactly the same for the ISU game. This was essentially a more exaggerated version of the ISU game. | PLAYER PROJECTIONS (10+ min played) | | Leading Scorers | KU - Chalmers, Arthur/Jackson Opp - Maric, Dagunduro
| KU - Arthur, Rush Opp - Harley, Dagunduro/Miller | | Highest cPSAN
(game impact)
| KU - Chalmers Opp - Maric | KU - Rush (Chalmers #7) Opp - Harley (Maric #8) | | Highest cPSAN70
(efficiency)
| KU - Chalmers Opp - Maric | KU - Robinson (Chalmers #7) Opp - Harley (Maric #8) | | | Highest efficiency vs season-to-date | KU - Chalmers, Stewart Opp - Ping, Dagunduro | KU - Collins, Robinson Opp - Harley, Henry | Particularly good day for Harley, given projections. | | Lowest efficiency vs season-to-date | KU - Rush, Arthur Opp - Harley, Maric | KU - Chalmers, Kaun Opp - Maric, Strowbridge | Particularly bad day for Chalmers.
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Pre-Game Keys to Watch For | Keys to Watch For | Metric | Result | Edge (Comments) | | More than any other team in the country, NU's opponents rely on the 3FG for scoring. KU will need to make a good percentage if it is going to get the expected blowout. | Kansas to shoot at least 35% from behind arc. | KU shot 56%
| KANSAS | | Anderson must score for NU to stay close. He will almost certainly take twice as many 3FG's as the projection suggests, based on past games against KU. | Anderson to score at least 15 points on 50 eFG% shooting. | Nope - 3 PTS on 17 eFG% shooting | KANSAS | | Maric's best chance against KU's deep frontline may be to get them in foul trouble and convert from the FT line. | Maric to attempt at least 10 FT
| Maric took 2 FT
| KANSAS |
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