Kansas forward Flory Bidunga (40) works for position with Brown forward N'famara Dabo (45) and Brown guard Kino Lilly Jr. (10) during the first half on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Kansas sneaked in one of the highlight plays of its nonconference slate under the wire.

In the final two minutes of KU’s last game prior to the start of league play, with the Jayhawks already up 33 points on Brown, AJ Storr pestered N’famara Dabo in the post to such an extent that Dabo wasn’t able to put up a shot off Jeremiah Jenkins’ behind-the-back entry pass.

Instead, Dabo spun awkwardly between Storr and center Flory Bidunga, lost his balance and threw the ball away. Bidunga led the fast break across halfcourt, pushed the ball ahead to point guard Shakeel Moore and then elevated to receive Moore’s alley-oop off the backboard for a two-handed flush.

“I heard Flory at halfcourt, when I looked over my shoulder, scream ‘Backboard!'” Moore said in an interview posted on KU’s social media, “So I just said, ‘Let me make an unselfish play.'”

Bidunga, who confirmed in his own postgame radio interview that he called for it, appreciated Moore’s generosity.

“Shak’s a great teammate,” Bidunga said. “He could have scored it, but he preferred to throw me a lob. Shak is a senior leader, so he’s looking (out) for us. That meant a lot for me.”

It was the last of four dunks for Bidunga on the day — all off lobs — and his 22nd of the season on 23 attempts, which is 20th in the nation according to Bart Torvik’s analytics site (as Bidunga plays just 12 minutes per game). The freshman big man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who is 30-for-37 (81.1%) shooting on the year, regained his early-season form after what head coach Bill Self had characterized as a stagnant “plateau.”

In the 87-53 victory over Brown on Sunday, Bidunga tallied eight points, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

“I think we kind of just needed him back,” forward KJ Adams said. “We needed that smile back, we needed the energy back, and I think he kind of showed it today in kind of breaking out into his own, like he usually is.”

Self had said even prior to Sunday’s action that he felt Bidunga had gotten back on an upward trajectory, and reiterated that message postgame: “He’s been much better the last 10 days or so, much better.”

Momentum was on Bidunga’s side all through November. After an ankle issue briefly sidelined him late in KU’s victory over UNC Wilmington, Self said he needed to get Bidunga’s minutes closer to 20 per game than 12 or 15. The following week, against Duke, Bidunga filled in admirably when starting center Hunter Dickinson got ejected, and his team defense with Adams helped shut down the Blue Devils on one of the most important plays of the game to seal KU’s narrow victory in Las Vegas.

Bidunga had a solid game against Furman but, along with his team, started to fade as the calendar flipped to December. In losses at Creighton and Missouri he combined for three points and eight rebounds and didn’t leave much of an impression generally; even against N.C. State on Dec. 14, he committed four fouls in just seven minutes and couldn’t stay on the floor.

Now he’s back on track.

“I would say so far, I think I like where I am right now,” he said. “Obviously I will keep improving.”

Lob-catching is one salient skill, but the acrobatic shot-blocking, which he displayed twice on Sunday, certainly helps.

“We’ve been working on it lately — just stay on your feet and obviously react after the opponent did,” Bidunga said. “So I try and do both of them, just stay on my feet and then keep my hands wider and larger … When I (see) the opportunity, I jump over and block it.”

The Brown game was his first multi-block showing since the season opener.