Tue. Dec 3rd, 2024

Preview: KU hosts undefeated Furman before road game

ByAmelia Pressman

Nov 30, 2024

Preview: KU hosts undefeated Furman before road game

AP Photo/Lucas Peltier

Kansas head coach Bill Self reacts during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Duke on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Las Vegas.

As the dust settled from Kansas’ victory over Duke and the final echoes of Kon Knueppel’s last-second shot bouncing off the backboard and rim faded, there was still one more game to play Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena be carried out.

The Furman Paladins of Greenville, South Carolina, and the Southern Conference led in the final 18 minutes, 26 seconds and held Seattle U within a distance of a 61-56 victory.

With this, Furman increased its season record to 7-0; Now, as Seattle takes on Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Paladins will take their undefeated season to task on the road to Allen Fieldhouse in what is officially the second phase of the Vegas showdown.

Furman will face KU on Saturday at 5 p.m., only the second meeting ever between the two programs. The Jayhawks won the first game on December 20, 1993, 101-60.

From KU’s perspective, this game is the last in Lawrence for two weeks – the longest the Jayhawks will not play there at any point in the regular season – as the team heads to back-to-back road games at Creighton and Missouri sets off.

The morning after its win over Seattle, Furman ranked 47 spots higher in the KenPom rankings than the next closest mid-major KU that played this season (UNC Wilmington). Of course, the Jayhawks had also played and beaten KenPom’s Nos. 5 (Duke), 13 (North Carolina) and 42 (Michigan State) teams at the same time, two of them on neutral sites.

The Paladins have yet to face a power conference team in the regular season, as their best wins along with Seattle have come against the likes of Belmont and Jacksonville. Furman hosted Auburn, one of the top five teams in the country, for an exhibition game that it lost 83-62.

Furman has been outstanding on defense so far this season, posting one of the lowest points per game averages in the country at 58.0. On offense, the Paladins are currently first in their league in assists per game. While heavy ball movement is a team-wide trend – five players average at least two assists – they are led by their preseason all-conference guard Pjay Smith, a senior and former Division II transfer who also led the team with 19.2 points per game.

Smith is shooting a whopping 53.3% from distance this season, and fellow guard Nick Anderson, another Division II transfer, isn’t far behind at 50%. Against Seattle, the 1.90 meter tall forward Cooper Bowser caused a stir with a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

“We know they’re 7-0, they’re one of the best defensive 3-point field goal teams in the country, so they’re going to try to shut that down and then they’re going to shoot a lot of them and they’re going to do it You a lot of them,” KU guard Zeke Mayo told reporters Friday.

The Paladins may be a projected fifth-place SoCon team, but they’ve shown before that they’re capable of pulling off a major upset. Two years ago, Bob Richey’s team knocked Virginia out of the NCAA tournament with a three-pointer with two seconds left. The current team has some holdovers from that roster, most notably Garrett Hien, Tyrese Hughey and Ben VanderWal.

No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks (6-0) vs. Furman Paladins (7-0)

• Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, 5 p.m

• Transmitted: ESPN+

• radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KMXN FM 92.9)

Keep an eye out

Score in bunches: It’s still early, but the Paladins are shooting over 40% from deep thanks to the efforts of Smith and Anderson. KU recently allowed Duke to go 11 of 26 (42.3%), which was a key reason the Blue Devils refused to give up in the face of two big runs from the Jayhawks. Granted, they had done a good job defending the arc before Tuesday night, so Saturday’s game could provide an opportunity to get back into form against some strong shooters.

Back on track: Tuesday was a night to forget for KU center Hunter Dickinson, the Jayhawks’ best player, who missed the final quarter of the game after being ejected for a flagrant foul and wasn’t particularly good even when he was on the floor lay. He missed a number of easy shots at the rim and finished 4 for 11 with 11 points and six rebounds. KU coach Bill Self said he believes the exclusion was a lesson. Dickinson has already been at his best this year, particularly in the Champions Classic against Michigan State, but a steady showing against Furman could be the start of a consistency-building process ahead of Big 12 play.

Might take some getting used to: It doesn’t affect the Jayhawks’ on-court performance, but it is literally on the court: KU has a deal with longtime sponsor FNBO (First National Bank of Omaha) that includes two instances of the company’s logo near center of the field placed James Naismith Court in the Allen Fieldhouse. Tuesday’s announcement of the sponsorship deal, with an accompanying video featuring Self and women’s basketball coach Brandon Schneider, sparked complaints from some fans about the sanctity of the storied court, others pleased that their school was making a lot of money from the sponsorship, and that still others were simply irritated that FNBO’s green logo clashed with the purple and blue color scheme. The logo will make its on-court debut on Saturday, marking the start of a multi-year agreement.

Observation out of balance

Bowser spent a year at Sunrise Christian Academy, the post-graduate prep school that also produced young KU players like Gradey Dick and Zach Clemence.