The Day After: Rolling into Round 2

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Frank Mason III (0) throws a pass between Austin Peay guard Khalil Davis (11) and forward Kenny Jones (42) during the second half, Thursday, March 17, 2016 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Frank Mason III (0) throws a pass between Austin Peay guard Khalil Davis (11) and forward Kenny Jones (42) during the second half, Thursday, March 17, 2016 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Kansas basketball team did what No. 1 seeds used to always do back in the formative days of the NCAA Tournament — they kicked butt.

KU’s 105-79 victory over Austin Peay at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, was not even as close as the score indicated. This one really had the feel of more of a 30- or 40-point beatdown.

And a big reason for that was because of the offensive execution by nearly every Jayhawk who entered this game.

KU shot 56 percent (including 6 of 16 from downtown) from the floor and hit 21 or 27 free throws. More than that, though, it seemed as if evertyhing the Jayhawks did worked. They were good in the paint, good from outside and good in transition.

It’s hard to make too much of this victory given the fact that Austin Peay was a game above .500 and finished in eighth place in the Ohio Valley Conference. But all you can do is play the teams in front of you and KU played this one very, very well. It was as good of an opening-round victory as Kansas has had in years.

Quick takeaway

After all of that talk about being focused and hungry and this season having a different feel to it heading into the NCAA Tournament, the Jayhawks sure backed it up and delivered. KU was great from start to finish in their opening-round win against an overmatched 16 seed and there’s no doubt that what unfolded Thursday only elevated the confidence of this team. And that’s saying something given that the Jayhawks already were riding a 14-game (now 15-game) winning streak.

Three reasons to smile

1 – KU’s starters got some serious rest. None of KU’s first five played more than 26 minutes in this game and, even the minutes they did play were not all that taxing. That’s a big time advantage heading into Saturday’s second-round clash with UConn and you can bet those five will all be ready to go the full 40 if necessary.

photo by: Nick Krug

Players on the Kansas bench have a laugh with the game locked up late in the second half, Thursday, March 17, 2016 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

2 – It did not matter who you talked to in the KU locker room, every single Jayhawk said they could play better and lamented the things the Jayhawks did not do well Thursday instead of celebrating the things they did. That’s not all that surprising and is just another good sign that this team is far from satisfied with what it has done thus far and has far bigger goals.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Wayne Selden Jr. (1) comes down with a dunk during the first half, Thursday, March 17, 2016 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

3 – Nine different Jayhawks put points on the board in this one. And one of the guys who did not was a big time surprise. Consider this for a quick second: KU put up 105 points and won by 26 without its hottest player scoring a single point. Devonte’ Graham, MVP of last week’s Big 12 tournament, was held scoreless in this one, missing all three shots he took (0-of-2 from three-point range) and failing to get to the free throw line. Graham, who finished with four fouls, did chip in with six assists, so it’s not as if he was completely invisible out there. But the fact that he did not score and KU still enjoyed one of its best offensive games of the season just shows how good this team was offensively on Thursday. Not only that, but it also may indicate that Graham is due in KU’s next game.

Three reasons to sigh

1 – KU’s defense was sub-par against the Governors. Austin Peay got far too many layups and APSU point guard Josh Robinson finished with a game-high 24 points. Self and several KU players talked after the game about how they wished they would’ve defended better. Graham even went as far as to say, if KU had played UConn on Thursday and played the same defense, it likely would have lost. Any time your D can be poor and you can win by 20-plus, life is good. Look for KU to be much better and much more focused defensively on Saturday.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Landen Lucas (33) elevates to defend against a shot from Austin Peay guard Josh Robinson (4) during the first half of a first-round NCAA Tournament game, Thursday, March 17, 2016 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

2 – KU forced the Austin Peay into 36 misses and allowed them to get 15 of those back on the offensive glass. That’s too high of a percentage (42) for Bill Self’s liking and it was only magnified by the fact that Austin Peay out-offensive-rebounded Kansas 15-14.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Jamari Traylor (31) gets an arm up to defend against a shot from Austin Peay forward Kenny Jones (42) during the second half, Thursday, March 17, 2016 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

3 – I hate to single out a guy on a night when things went so well for the team, but it’s tough to find too much wrong with this one so Brannen Greene falls victim to that. And with good reason. Not only did Greene miss all three shots he attempted, but he also had a rough stretch midway through the first half in which he misfired on a jumper and then got lazy getting back on D and just reached out and grabbed a guy’s jersey. Self sat him and had some words for him when he got to the bench. To be fair, Greene added four assists and played just 11 minutes. But it was definitely a night to forget for the KU junior, who kept alive his streak of struggling on nights when Svi plays great.

One for the road

A few individual highlights from KU’s first-round rout of Austin Peay…

• Senior F Perry Ellis
Scored 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field in 25 minutes.
Reached 20 points for the fifth time in the last six games.
Now has 1,749 career points, seven shy of entering the top-10 on KU’s career scoring list. Kirk Hinrich (2000-03) currently stands in 10th-place with 1,753 career points.

• Sophomore G Devonte’ Graham
Dished out a game-high six assists without turning the ball over.

• Junior G Wayne Selden Jr.
Turned in his most productive performance in an NCAA tournament game, scoring 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting in 19 minutes. Entered Thursday averaging 2.5 ppg in NCAA postseason play.

• Sophomore G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk
Scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Jayhawks in scoring for the third time this season.
Made a career-high nine field goals on 11 attempts.
His first 20-point scoring effort also marks his 10th career double-figure scoring effort.

• Junior F Landen Lucas
Grabbed eight rebounds, while adding 16 points on a near-perfect shooting night (6-7 FG).
Has led KU in rebounding for 10 of the last 12 games.

Next up

The Jayhawks advance to Saturday’s second round, where they will play No. 9 seed UConn, a 74-67 winner over Colorado during the day’s first game in Des Moines. Game time has not yet been determined.

— See what people were saying about KU’s first-round victory during KUsports.com’s live coverage

More news and notes from KU’s victory over Austin Peay

By the Numbers: Kansas 105, Austin Peay 79