Postgame Report Card: Kansas 104, Oklahoma 74

photo by: Nick Krug

The Kansas bench celebrates a dunk in the final minutes by Kansas guard Sam Cunliffe (3) during the second half of their 104-74 win against Oklahoma on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018 at Allen Fieldhouse.

photo by: Nick Krug

The Kansas bench celebrates a dunk in the final minutes by Kansas guard Sam Cunliffe (3) during the second half of their 104-74 win against Oklahoma on Monday, Feb. 19, 2018 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Quick grades for five aspects of KU’s 104-74 rout of Oklahoma on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

Offense: A+

61 percent from the floor. 55 percent from 3-point range. Five players in double figures. Nine in the score column. I don’t care who you are, or how you grade it, this was about as close to a perfect night as you can get in college basketball. For perspective, the template for this Report Card always says at the top, “Quick grades for five aspects of KU’s 114-71 rout of Texas Southern on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.” That was darn near the score on Monday night, against a team that features the potential national player of the year that some said could win the Big 12 at the season’s midway point. Hell of a night.

Defense: A

Bill Self said after the victory that he still thinks his team can defend better. And it probably can. But boy were the Jayhawks good in the early going of this one. Active hands, elite intensity and energy and all kinds of effort plays that steamrolled Oklahoma and took the Sooners out of the game almost immediately. Heck, the Jayhawks even crushed OU on the glass in this one, 38-25.

Frontcourt: A

Outside of a bad foul 20 seconds into the second half and a couple of quick ones in the first half, Udoka Azubuike was solid in this one and went after the ball whenever it was near him, be it on rebounds or shot attempts by OU. He finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals in 18 minutes. And he didn’t need to play more because of the Jayhawks’ big night from back-up Silvio De Sousa, who tallied 10 points and 6 boards in 13 minutes. Add to that Mitch Lightfoot’s 4 points and 3 blocks in 7 minutes and you’re looking at a pretty strong night from a pretty good trio.

Backcourt: A+

Svi found his shot again — 5-of-10 overall, 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Graham was sensational in out-dueling OU freshman Trae Young. And Malik Newman’s 20-point night was a little overshadowed by all of it but certainly did not deserve to be. He was terrific and carried the confidence of a trained assassin. Add to that another strong showing by Lagerald Vick and it’s another easy A.

Bench: A

We’re going to give the bench an A tonight simply because of the fact that they actually played. Not only were De Sousa and Lightfoot good in real minutes, but Clay Young, Chris Teahan, Sam Cunliffe and even James Sosinski actually got in at the end to close the game out. “It’s always great when you can sub your starting five out the last two minutes of the game,” Newman said after the victory. “It just speaks to how good our team played tonight.”