Kansas 88 - Ohio 51

Comments and Observations

Things could not have gone better for the Jayhawks.  I noticed on the Bottom Line ticker that the Hawks and Bobcats were also playing in the NBA.  Ohio probably thought there was a mixup and they were playing the pro 'Hawks team instead.  This was exactly what KU needed to do to show it belongs in the discussions of national title contenders.  Here was an Ohio team fresh off a mild upset of Maryland on the road.  They had a star frontcourt performer and one of the nation's best offenses.  KU just wreaked havoc on defense, pushed the ball down their throats on the break, executed brilliantly on offense with a wide array of lob passes and other set plays and just dominated from beginning to end.  There was not one second of doubt in this game.  They neutralized the potential OU advantages inside and on the freethrow line with excellent denial of the ball to Williams inside.  Ohio probably had a bad shooting day, but it didnt' seem like it would have mattered.

Offensive and Defensive Performance

This is a new section I plan to include in my recaps.  It is an attempt to determine how well each team's offense and defense played, based on the opposition's strength.  Here's how it works.  To determine KU's offensive performance, we start with KU's offensive efficiency in the game (1.23 pts per possession, which is 123 points per 100 possessions - the measure we'll actually use).  We take that 123 and divide by the opponent's adjusted defensive efficiency (Kenpom.com says Ohio's Adj DE was 98.9, only a little better than the average defense).  Multiply that result by the NCAA average efficiency (100.1), and presto -- 124.7 is KU's offensive performance this game.  What does that actually mean?  It means that if KU were to perform at the same level offensively against the average team, it would have scored at a 124.7 points per 100 possession rate. In this case, that would have translated to about 89 points, FYI.

We can do the same analysis for KU's defensive performance, just flip flop the appropriate terms.  The interesting part is when we do the analysis for Ohio and compare those results.  In this case, Ohio's defensive performance was 107.2, compared to KU's offensive performance of 124.7.  What that tells me is that KU's score was more the result of good offense than bad Ohio defense.  I know this because the 124.7 is a greater distance away from the average than the 107.2 is from the average.  Ohio's offensive performance and KU's defensive performance numbers also imply that Ohio's score was more the result of amazing KU defense (61.1) than poor Ohio offense (90.5).

With that background, this table should be easy to read.

Four Factor Analysis

• eFG% - Advantage KU 64-35%.  Ohio offense not used to this kind of shutdown.
• TURNOVERS - Advantage KU 24-22%. Unexpectedly close.
  
• OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING - Advantage KU 48-26%.  KU seemed to want it more.
• FREETHROW RATE (FTM/FGA) - Almost even at 15%.  Should have been OU's big advantage.
  

CONCLUSION - In a game where you get points by shooting baskets into a hoop, well ... you gotta shoot baskets into the hoop.  When you do that 35 points better, not much else is needed.

Player Performance Analysis

Another stellar performance for KU's biggest performer this season.  Mario Chalmers put on a clinic for how to get into passing lanes and disrupt an offense.  In only 25 MIN, he scored 17 PTS on 94.4 eFG% (3-of-4 on 3FG), with 5 AST, 4 STL, 3 REB and 2 TO.  Hard to ask anything more of a player.  And yet, if you can believe it, there was another KU player nipping on his heels.  His backcourt partner in crime (yes, they should both be charged with grand theft the way they defended), Russell Robinson, returned to his better form to silence critics.  In his 25 MIN, he picked his spots to shoot 2-of-3 on 3FG for 100 eFG%, with a career-high 11 AST, 3 STL, 3 REB, 1 BLK and just 2 TO.  Maybe that tendinitis is getting better.

Darnell Jackson and Brandon Rush were the other two starters with strong games.  Jackson made all five of his FG attempts for 11 PTS to go with 8 REB (only 1 OREB) and 2 AST.  Rush started the game on a hot streak from behind the arc but cooled off and finished with a 50 eFG% clip, scoring 13 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST, 1 BLK and 1 TO in 25 MIN.

Sasha Kaun may not have had a game impact rating as high as those two, but he was more efficient in his 17 MIN, shooting 66.7 eFG% to score 8 PTS, 7 REB (4 OREB), 2 BLK and 0 TO.  Cole Aldrich didn't have a bad game either, including an unbelievable dunk in the lane following a teammate's miss.  He finished with 75 eFG%, 6 PTS, 4 REB (2 OREB), 1 BLK and 1 TO in just 10 MIN.

Darrell Arthur was very involved in the game.  In 25 MIN, he scored 14 PTS, 8 REB (3 OREB), with 2 BLK, 1 STL and 2 TO.   His rating is less than impressive because he missed so many shots on a day where KU was scoring very efficiently.  Plus, his two missed freethrows equate to about one empty possession.  If he never shoots another 3FG, it would be a welcome sight.

Sherron Collins continues his journey back from injury.  This wasn't one of his better performances, understandably.  His 50 eFG% is respectable but not great in this particular game, and neither was his 0 AST against 2 TO.  The important thing with him is just getting the feel of the game back.  Plus, it was clear he could create his shot when he really wanted to.  A few more games and he should be back to his explosive self once again.

Tyrel Reed finally had a poor game, missing all three of his shots and turning it over once.  Rodrick Stewart also struggled big time, with 2 FT's as his only offense and 3 TO to make matters worse.

For Ohio, only Williams had a respectable performance, though it was nowhere near his usually superb levels.  Walther put in an essentially neutral performance.  Everyone else struggled a little or a lot. 

Comparison to Pre-Game Projections

(Not enough data went into these projections for accuracy.)