photo by: Kansas Athletics

Kansas center Hunter Dickinson looks to shoot against Michigan State on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Atlanta.

In terms of on-court performance, the Kansas men’s basketball team hasn’t been perfect thus far this season. Far from it.

The Jayhawks blew a 20-point lead against North Carolina. They missed 15 shots in a row on Tuesday against Michigan State. Players like Wisconsin transfer AJ Storr, whose adjustment to Bill Self’s system has the potential to substantially raise KU’s long-term ceiling, look nowhere near settled in.

KU’s record, though, is a perfect 3-0.

“When you’re looking at it, it’s impossible to be better than 3-0 right now for us,” center Hunter Dickinson said on Tuesday. “Can’t be better than 3-0.”

Indeed, the Jayhawks shook off the protracted shooting slump and did just enough to beat the Spartans 77-69, after making key shots and getting stops down the stretch to take down UNC 92-89 the previous weekend. Throw in a season-opening win over Howard and KU has done nothing to significantly jeopardize its No. 1 spot in the nation entering Saturday evening’s home game against Oakland.

With the Golden Grizzlies coming to town, followed by UNC Wilmington on Tuesday, KU has two more chances to get players like Storr, David Coit and Rylan Griffen in the swing of things before it faces Duke in Las Vegas on Nov. 26. As Storr said, it’s a chance “really just to keep our momentum going.”

The Jayhawks can’t look ahead, because Oakland is no slouch. The Golden Grizzlies, out of Oakland County, Michigan, won the Horizon League and knocked Kentucky out of the NCAA Tournament last year thanks to a whopping 10 3-pointers by the now-graduated Jack Gohlke, then pushed eventual Final Four participant N.C. State to overtime behind 30 points from since-transferred Trey Townsend.

Chris Conway and Blake Lampman are also gone, so the question then becomes: Who is still on the roster?

The headliner is guard DQ Cole, who has averaged 10.7 points per game through a wide-ranging trio of results for Oakland thus far: a 23-point victory over NAIA school Defiance College, blowout loss at Boise State and surprisingly close loss at Illinois.

Cole has already attempted 30 3-pointers this season, which would be half of KU’s entire total as a team, except his teammates Malcolm Christie and Jayson Woodrich have also jacked up 21 apiece. So far, Oakland is shooting just 19.3% from deep and 36.0% overall.

The Golden Grizzlies, picked to finish fourth in the Horizon this year, don’t have a lot of size. Woodrich is the tallest player receiving significant minutes for Oakland at 6-foot-7. He and 6-foot-6 double-digit scorer Buru Naivalurua are each pulling down 7.7 rebounds per game.

“It’ll be a different type of game,” KU coach Bill Self said, “but it’s also good for us to play against different styles.”

Oakland coach Greg Kampe recently earned his 700th career victory. He has been coaching the Golden Grizzlies since 1984, when Self — now nearing 800 himself — was still a player at Oklahoma State. Self has faced and beaten Kampe three times, once at Illinois and twice at KU.

He said he was impressed by Kampe’s longevity.

“You think I’ve been here a long time and my rhetoric’s gotten old?” Self joked. “This dude’s been there 41 years.”

No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks (3-0) vs. Oakland Golden Grizzlies (1-2)

• Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, 5 p.m.

• Broadcast: ESPN+

• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KMXN FM 92.9)

Keep an eye out

From Lawrence, Kansas…: Lawrence native and South Dakota State transfer Zeke Mayo stepped into the starting lineup for the first time during the regular season on Tuesday night, replacing David Coit, and despite shooting poorly made himself useful with 10 rebounds and seven assists. Mayo figures to retain his spot for Saturday, meaning that for the first time he will hear himself officially announced as a starter at Allen Fieldhouse. The KU crowd will undoubtedly appreciate it, too.

Adams’ ankle: Starting forward KJ Adams turned his ankle midway through KU’s game against North Carolina and hasn’t been the same since. In his last three halves of play, Adams is 1-for-11 from the field with four rebounds and three assists, though he did manage to hit some key free throws late in the Jayhawks’ victory over Michigan State. Self said that Adams, whom he called “as valuable as any player we’ve ever had here,” played a key role in that game even in his hindered state. Adams was able to practice Thursday, unlike in the lead-up to the MSU game, and being back at home and taking on Oakland will provide him an opportunity to get back in rhythm on offense.

In the zone: Along with their propensity for shooting 3s, Kampe’s teams are known for playing matchup zone defense. It’s the sort of thing that KU isn’t likely to encounter much, if at all, throughout the remainder of the season, and will present a unique preparational challenge for Self and his staff, perhaps more so than most games against mid-major foes. As Self notes, Oakland “gave some really good teams fits.”

Off-kilter observation

This will not be the first visit to Allen Fieldhouse for Oakland forward Allen Mukeba. He had two points and eight rebounds against KU last year, when he played for Kansas City.