Three Thoughts on Kansas’ 93-89 Win Over Samford
The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Samford Bulldogs, 93-89, in the first round of the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Thursday.
At one point, Kansas led by 22 points and appeared to be in control. But Samford rallied. The Bulldogs chipped away at the lead and cut it to one point, 79-78, with 5:15 left in the game.
Kansas stayed ahead, and Nicolas Timberlake made two free throws with 14 seconds to make it a three-point lead for Kansas, though replay showed that he wasn’t fouled as he went in for a dunk. Samford’s A.J. Staton-McCray appeared to block the ball from behind but was called for a foul.
All five Kansas starters were in double figures, including KJ Adams Jr. with 20 points, Nicolas Timberlake with 19 points, Johnny Furphy with 16 points and DaJuan Harris Jr. with 13 points.
Samford forward Achor Achor had 23 points and eight rebounds despite leg cramps that took him out of the game on two occasions.
Here are three thoughts on the game and what it means for both teams.
HUNTER HUSTLES
With no Kevin McCullar Jr., the Jayhawks knew they would have to lean on center Hunter Dickinson, among others. And he delivered.
Dickinson missed the Big 12 Tournament, along with McCullar. Dickinson hurt his shoulder in the regular-season finale against Houston. Not cleared to play before the tournament in Kansas City, he was held out.
But he looked like his normal self against Samford, even as he played with a wrap on the shoulder. In fact, by halftime, he already had a double-double and finished with 19 points, 20 rebounds and four blocked shots.
I don’t know if Kansas is going to make a deep run in this tournament. So much will have to go right. But if they do make a run, Dickinson has to take the lead and it’s not just on offense. He has to be a distributor, too (he had five assists). His size has a gravitational pull and if he’s playing well and teams have to double-team him, well, that means someone is open, right?
MORE ON MCCULLAR
Kansas coach Bill Self took the unusual step of going on Twitter on gameday to address the injury status of guard Kevin McCullar Jr., namely those reading more into Self’s comments on ruling McCullar out for the NCAA Tournament.
Self apparently felt so strongly about setting the record straight that it was his first post on Twitter (or X, if you roll that way) in months.
Long story short? He believes his comments were portrayed inaccurately. Kansas shut him down for the tournament. McCullar did everything possible to get ready.
He wasn’t the only Jayhawk sticking up for McCullar. Football player Devin Neal did so as well.
McCullar’s career at Kansas is done, no matter what happens the rest of this tournament.
THE NUMBER TO KNOW: 69/60/82
That was Kansas’ shooting hash in the first half — 69.2% from the field (18-for-26), 60% from 3-point (3-for-5) and 81.8% from the free-throw line (9-for-11). Incredible stuff. Kansas was not able to maintain those percentages for the entire game, but no team can.
Somehow, Kansas was only up 10 points at the break. Why? Kansas committed 12 turnovers in the first half, which kept the Bulldogs in the game. Kansas finished with 18 turnovers, which ended up as a season high for the Jayhawks.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Samford (29-6) is done for the season.
Kansas (23-10) will face Gonzaga in the second round on Saturday.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
