Some golfers miss three-foot putts consistently, yet that doesn’t stop them from saying, “I shot an 83, but it should have been a 78.” It can be that way for post players in basketball, too.

Kansas University senior center Sasha Kaun, for example, still hasn’t mastered the shot known as a “bunny.” An authoritative dunker and active post defender, Kaun still seems to lip out nearly as many bunnies as he makes.

It’s too early to say the same of forward Darrell Arthur, a remarkably quick 6-foot-9 sophomore blessed with soft hands, great speed and explosive jumping ability. But it’s not too early to ask the question: Does Arthur lack the right touch on bunnies, or is he hurrying too much? Either way, he had a perplexing night in an 85-62 victory against a Missouri-Kansas City team that didn’t have anybody capable of defending him without hacking away.

Asked about whether Arthur is a better inside scorer than he’s showing, KU coach Bill Self was careful not to criticize the player who has the highest ceiling. Still, facts are facts.

“In the first half, he misses two bunnies that were uncontested, misses a dunk that was uncontested and has an offensive charge that he had to get a step closer on,” Self said. “There’s eight points. Second half he has a dunk that he should have made that he got fouled on. That’s 10 points that if he makes those you’d say he had a great game.”

He scored 13 points, but he should have had 23. In other words, he shot an 83, but it should have been a 78. Just as in golf, the only relevant number answers the question, “What’d you shoot?,” in basketball, when the topic is scoring, it’s “How many’d you have?”

“He got the ball where we needed it to score, he just missed a couple of bunnies, and our big guys have got to do a better job of making those shots,” Self said.

Arthur does so many amazing things during a game that when he can’t do something, particularly something as simple as a shot from point-blank range, it stands out.

Because Arthur slides his feet like a player a foot shorter and runs with the speed of a wide receiver, he has moments when he makes it clear he’s the most talented athlete in the building. That stretch came a few minutes into the second half. He went to the high post to receive a pass, turned and swished a 15-footer. At the other end, he stepped into the passing lane on the perimeter for one of his three steals and dunked it at the other end. On UMKC’s next possession, he came up with a steal down low and fired a pass forward to Sherron Collins, who turned it into a layup.

Senior point guard Russell Robinson doesn’t have any plans to stop feeding Arthur.

“We all have a ways to go,” Robinson said. “He definitely left a lot of points out there. He missed a couple of bunnies, a couple of dunks, but he’s going to show up when the time comes. We just have to continue to pound the ball inside and get him to work. … Shady’s unstoppable in practice. We’ve just got to get that to carry over into the game.”

Arthur said: “They’re just not going in right now. I’m probably just nervous. I come out nervous. Every game I’ve played in my life I’ve come out nervous.”

If and only if Arthur cures the yips on short shots, he won’t be an All-American longshot.