photo by: Mike Yoder

Kansas' Mario Chalmers (15) and Sherron Collins rush to defend Davidson's Jason Richards, who missed the potentially game winning shot, on Sunday, March 30, 2008 in Detroit, Mich.

Jesse Newell: Welcome back to the GameDay Cram Session, as Kansas is taking on Davidson on Monday at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Tom, KU is playing Davidson for the first time since the teams’ Elite Eight game in 2008. What do you remember most about that game?

photo by: Mike Yoder

Kansas' Mario Chalmers (15) and Sherron Collins rush to defend Davidson's Jason Richards, who missed the potentially game winning shot, on Sunday, March 30, 2008 in Detroit, Mich.

Tom Keegan: That’s an easy one. Bill Self dropping to his knees for that brief eternity that Jason Richards’ shot was in the air. Would it ever come down? It’s not going though the hoop is it? Hurry up, would you. Hurry up and fall one way or the other. Get it over with. (Self’s reaction is cued up in the video below.)

JN: Though I wasn’t there like you were, the thing I’ll remember most was Sasha Kaun’s play in that game.

When nothing was working offensively, KU threw it to Kaun, who made all six of his field goals to tie a team high with 13 points.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas center Sasha Kaun looks for a rebound between Davidson defenders Boris Meno, left, and Stephen Curry during the first half Sunday, March 30, 2008 at Ford Field in Detroit.

In a game where the Jayhawks looked rattled from the start, they got a huge offensive boost from an unexpected source off the bench.

Kaun had just eight combined points and one rebound in KU’s two Final Four games, but the Jayhawks never would have made it to San Antonio without his game against Davidson.

Switching back to this year’s team, which bench player do you think will have the bigger role for KU the rest of this year: Naadir Tharpe or Justin Wesley?

TK: Great question. So far, it’s been Justin Wesley, but in the long run I’m going to guess Naadir Tharpe.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas head coach Bill Self gets at Naadir Tharpe after a turnover during the first half against UCLA on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011 at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Once he figures out how to defend well enough to earn minutes, he’ll get more comfortable and show his skills at the other end. Two quotes come to mind when discussing freshman. One is from Al McGuire: “The best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores.” The other is from Barry Hinson: “One thing you really want to do is take freshmen, and you want to shove them into a microwave, and you want to speed the process up. That’s one of the things you just can’t do in basketball. As much as you want to microwave maturation, it doesn’t happen.”

JN: Love the microwave quote.

I expect we won’t see much of Tharpe against Davidson or USC this week, but we will see a lot more of him against KU’s next two opponents.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Naadir Tharpe extends to the bucket as Kentucky forward Terrance Jones swoops in to swat his shot during the first half on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The reason? KU’s schedule gets much easier. Both Davidson and USC are ranked in KenPom’s top 130.

Howard and North Dakota — KU’s two foes after that — both rank 270th or worse in KenPom’s rankings.

Because the Jayhawks’ schedule has been so difficult thus far, Self hasn’t had much of an opportunity to play Tharpe in low-leverage minutes.

Even if it doesn’t happen this week, expect Tharpe to get out there next week. He’s one injury away from being a guy that would have to play extensive minutes for the Jayhawks.

OK, Tom, what’s your prediction for this game?

TK: KU by 15.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas players Travis Releford and Elijah Johnson get tied up with Ohio State guard William Buford during the second half on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Davidson always seems to find a way to move the ball well enough to get open three-point shots, but these Wildcats don’t shoot as well (.306 from long-range) as the Wildcats (.364) of Stephen Curry (.439) in 2007-2008.

JN: I’ll go KU by nine.

photo by: Mike Yoder

KU's Kevin Young (40) comes up with a loose ball late in the second-half of the Jayhawks 78-67 win over #2 nationally ranked Ohio State University at Allen Fieldhouse, Dec. 10, 2011. At right is KU's Travis Releford (24)...

The matchup to watch will be inside. Both of Davidson’s post players — 6-foot-10 Jake Cohen and 6-7 De’Mon Brooks — are very good at drawing fouls, ranking in the top 115 nationally. Not only that, once they get fouled, they make their free throws, as Cohen is 88 percent from the line, while Brooks is 84 percent.

That should be a little scary for KU fans, as that strength matches up with one of the Jayhawks’ weaknesses, which is fouling too often. The three KU players leading the team in fouls committed per 40 minutes are all inside players: Wesley (9.6), Withey (5.7) and Young (5.5).

As you mentioned, Tom, Davidson hasn’t shot it well from three, but the Wildcats have made up for it by shooting a lot of free throws.

The Jayhawks should win this game comfortably if they can avoid fouls. We’ll see if they do it.

All right, Tom, who’s your Hawk to Rock?

TK: Thomas Robinson.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Thomas Robinson rips away a rebound from the Ohio State players during the second half on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Why not?

JN: Fair enough. I’ll take Jeff Withey.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas center Jeff Withey makes his way to the bench with a mouthful of blood following some physical play against Long Beach State during the second half on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011 at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Wildcats haven’t defended two-pointers well this season and also have had their own problems with fouls inside.

This should be a big game for Withey, who has made 56 percent of his twos and 87 percent of his free throws this season.

Predictions tally (through nine games)
Tom: 7-2 record, 78 points off (8.7 points off/game)
Jesse: 9-0 record, 71 points off (7.9 points off/game)

Hawk to Rock

Tom Keegan
Towson: Tyshawn Taylor (4th in Keegan ratings)
Kentucky: Tyshawn Taylor (1st in Keegan ratings)
Georgetown: Elijah Johnson (4th in Keegan ratings)
UCLA: Tyshawn Taylor (2nd in Keegan ratings)
Duke: Elijah Johnson (4th in Keegan ratings)
FAU: Jeff Withey (4th in Keegan ratings)
South Florida: Tyshawn Taylor (1st in Keegan ratings)
Long Beach State: Elijah Johnson (7th in Keegan ratings)
Ohio State: Thomas Robinson (2nd in Keegan ratings)
Average: 3.2nd in Keegan ratings

Jesse Newell
Towson: Conner Teahan (6th in Keegan ratings)
Kentucky: Elijah Johnson (4th in Keegan ratings)
Georgetown: Kevin Young (9th in Keegan ratings)
UCLA: Elijah Johnson (1st in Keegan ratings)
Duke: Thomas Robinson (1st in Keegan ratings)
FAU: Tyshawn Taylor (7th in Keegan ratings)
South Florida: Elijah Johnson (6th in Keegan ratings)
Long Beach State: Thomas Robinson (1st in Keegan ratings)
Ohio State: Travis Releford (5th in Keegan ratings)
Average: 4.4th in Keegan ratings