For a game that wasn’t close for its final 25 minutes, Kansas’ victory against La Salle on Saturday certainly contained some interesting storylines.

The one statline that leaps off the box score is that of KU senior guard Sherron Collins. A career 39 percent three-point marksman, Collins was anything but accurate Saturday at Sprint Center. He launched 12 shots, made one and scored just five points. It was the third time in nine games this season Collins made fewer than half his field goals and his lowest point total since a March 2008 NCAA Tournament game against Davidson.

The offensive vacuum created by Collins’ struggles allowed other Jayhawks to take control. Freshman guard Xavier Henry and junior center Cole Aldrich were the KU players who most noticeably filled the void, but sophomore forward Markieff Morris and sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor also enjoyed efficient afternoons.

The game was an up-and-down affair early, as both teams hit the 20-point plateau by the 11-minute mark of the first half. The pace eventually settled a bit, but each team ended up using 71 possessions, slightly faster than the national average.

A look at the ebb and flow of Saturday’s game, compliments of StatSheet.com

For that reason, KU’s defense might have looked a bit worse than it really was.

The Jayhawks surrendered .92 points per possession, approximately .08 points per trip lower (better) than the national average. KU held La Salle down by limiting good shot attempts. The Explorers made 36.1 percent of their field goal attempts Saturday, substantially worse than their season average of 45.8 percent.

Credit Aldrich and Markieff Morris for that stat: The pair combined for nine blocks. Aldrich swatted 17 percent of La Salle’s shots while he was on the court and Morris deflected 13 percent. Perhaps the most impressive number of the entire day? Aldrich and Morris committed one foul. Combined. In 53 minutes of combined floor time. A 6-foot-11 and 6-foot-9 duo with a 9-to-1 blocks-to-fouls ratio is a combination that can make a team hard to beat.

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What went right for KU

• Xavier Henry’s growing offensive arsenal

KU coach Bill Self addressed it in his postgame news conference. Gary Bedore wrote about it in Sunday’s edition of the Journal-World. And there’s more to be said. Xavier Henry was more than a long-range gunner on Saturday. The freshman expanded his game by showing a willingness to drive around, through and over defenders. His ability to get to the hoop has never been questioned: His 220-pound frame is as valuable a commodity as this season’s KU team has. But in an effort to fit into Self’s system, Henry played primarily on the perimeter for the season’s first eight games. He was an excellent scoring weapon, but not nearly as dangerous as he was during his 31-point, 15-shot attempt outburst Saturday. One metric that shows how Henry took his aggressiveness up a notch is Free Throw Rate. Free Throw Rate (FTR) measures a player’s ability to get to the free throw line by comparing his free throw attempts to field goal attempts.* As a general rule, the more a player attacks the basket, the higher his player’s FTR will be. Henry posted a FTR of 60 on Saturday, taking nine free throws and 15 field goal attempts. The Oklahoma native had posted FTRs ranging from zero to 44.4 in his past six games entering Saturday, never attempting more than four free throws. KU’s offense gains another dimension when Henry goes from shooter to scorer.

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Nick Krug/LJW Photo — KU guard Xavier Henry attacks the hoop

What went wrong for KU

• Not much, aside from some early rebounding woes

KU had a hard time keeping La Salle off of the glass in the first half — for good reason. The Explorers’ shortest starting guard, Rodney Green, was 6-foot-5, which meant Collins and co. were out-sized by quite a few inches. La Salle took a substantial rebounding advantage into the second half, although Aldrich, both Morris twins and freshman forward Thomas Robinson came through with excellent per-possession rebounding rates to give KU a final 43-31 edge. It may or may not be of much concern to KU’s title hopes, but the Jayhawks don’t have much in the way of backcourt rebounding. Collins’ 6.4 percent rebound rate is tiny, Taylor’s 11.5 percent mark is decent and Henry’s 14.9 percent mark is about average. It’s doubtful this is a fault that could legitimately hurt KU, but having a guard who can rebound (i.e. Brandon Rush) never hurts.

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The Bottom Line: KU made a team from a decent Atlantic-10 Conference look bad for much of Saturday’s game. Not much here to complain about for KU fans.

*An average FTR in 2009 was approximately 35. A brief explanation can be found here.