Player Performance Analysis

What an incredible debut from KU's heralded newcomer, Xavier Henry.  By now, most everyone knows he broke the KU freshman debut record with 27 points, but it's even more impressive how efficiently he did it.  An astounding 88 eFG% was the highlight (included 5-of-8 from 3FG) to go with 5 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK and ZERO turnovers.  That's right, he certainly didn't play like a freshman.  He was aggressive, deadly and efficient.  What if he'd played more than 24 minutes?  The way things were going, he may even have had a chance to break the legendary John Wall's pre-established records!  Let's hope this is a sign of things to come, not the peak of Henry's season.

While Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins had the next highest impact scores, it was Markieff Morris whose efficiency is the next big story.  In just 12 minutes, he scored 6 PTS on 67 eFG%, 7 REB (4 OREB), 2 STL and just 1 TO.  Perhaps even more importantly, he only had 1 personal foul, a far cry from his freshman debut.  He made both of his FT attempts.  He certainly did enough to justify his starting role.

We won't talk much about Aldrich and Collins, as they are two of the most well-known performers on the team.  Just note that Aldrich had a better game on paper, with 80 eFG% shooting and 4 BLK, while Collins did the bulk of the scoring (23 PTS) on a very nice 60 eFG% shooting night (4-of-10 from behind the arc).  Because KU shot 60 eFG% as a team, Collins doesn't get as much credit for his scoring, since he shot about the same rate as the team.

Elijah Johnson also had a nice debut, though not nearly as eye-popping as Henry's.  Johnson shot a sizzling 80 eFG% (no 3FG attempted) and chipped in 8 PTS, 4 REB (3 OREB), 1 AST, 1 STL and 2 TO in just 17 MIN.  He gets a lot of credit because three of his boards on offense.  On a night when KU was so efficient offensively, those turnovers hurt more.

Not all the freshmen debuts were something to write home about.  Rather, not something GOOD to write home about.  After generating tremendous buzz and excitement from two solid exhibition performances, Thomas Robinson finally came back to Earth with the worst numbers on the team in his first official game as a Jayhawk.  Shooting just 1-of-5 (20 eFG%) and committing 3 TO were too much to overcome with 5 REB (only 1 OREB), 2 AST and 1 STL.  Given Robinson's reputation for working hard and being a "motor", it shouldn't be difficult to see this as being a motivator for the next few games.  There is no doubt he is talented, so let's see when that comes through.

Nothing Earth-shattering came from Tyshawn Taylor or Tyrel Reed's performances.  Taylor shot very well (63 eFG%) from the field but struggled at the line (3-of-6).  He had 6 AST against 2 TO and chipped in 1 STL and 1 BLK.  Reed surprisingly missed all four of his shots but made up for it by avoiding any TO's and adding 3 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK and zero PF.

Game Projections