Kansas forward K.J. Adams Jr. (24) gets inside for a bucket against Kansas City during the second half on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Fayetteville, Ark. — Throughout the preseason, Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self has referred to his ongoing efforts to determine how the Jayhawks’ disparate pieces fit together.

Playing without several of the most important pieces of that puzzle — preseason All-American center Hunter Dickinson and transfers Rylan Griffen and Shakeel Moore, all of whom sat out due to various minor injuries — KU didn’t look cohesive on either side of the ball Friday night and lost 85-69 to preseason No. 16 Arkansas in a charity exhibition at Bud Walton Arena.

“It wasn’t our team, first of all,” KU coach Bill Self said. “But I didn’t learn anything very favorable. I learned that their three guards kicked our three guards’ butt. I learned that their big guys kicked our big guys’ butt. I’m thinking that it’ll be a different team when some other guys get out there.”

With the Razorbacks missing one of their own key offseason acquisitions in Tennessee transfer Jonas Aidoo, new head coach John Calipari started five players who had either committed to or played for him at Kentucky, and several rewarded him with strong performances. Sophomore D.J. Wagner led the Razorbacks with 24 points, while freshman guard Boogie Fland scored 22 with a whopping six steals.

“They’re projected to be pros for a reason,” KU guard Dajuan Harris Jr. said.

KU’s sixth-year point guard Harris used his usual mix of acrobatic layups and pinpoint 3-point shooting to tally a game-high 26 points, which would also have been a career high if the game had counted, on 11-for-17 shooting.

“I got to score, but I just try to be aggressive for my team,” Harris said. “It still wasn’t enough.”

The Jayhawks trailed by double digits for the entire second half, but had some life late thanks to Harris and freshman Rakease Passmore, their only other double-digit scorer, before a string of late fouls and turnovers.

“I made a lot of unforced turnovers back to back, and that’s just something that I need to work on and the team needs to work on,” KU senior KJ Adams said. “But other than that, they just played harder than us, I think, this game, and I think in the next couple practices we’re going to work on that, trying to get ready for the season.”

KU fell behind 8-2 in the early going thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Wagner before Zeke Mayo helped to stem the tide with one of his own, then a slick transition assist to fellow transfer AJ Storr.

The Razorbacks led by as many as seven points on an off-the-backboard alley-oop from Fland to their lone returning contributor Trevon Brazile. However, a key offensive rebound by Adams turned into a five-point possession (a 3-pointer by Harris and a dunk by Adams) thanks to an off-ball foul by Arkansas freshman Karter Knox.

Arkansas maintained a slight advantage throughout the first quarter and widened it to 25-17 by the end of the period thanks to a three-minute scoring drought for the Jayhawks.

The drought continued into the second quarter until a putback by freshman Flory Bidunga gave the rookie his first points. He then scored twice more in rapid succession, including on a long-distance lob from Harris, but the Razorbacks kept KU at arm’s length. They boosted their lead to double digits at 35-25 when Passmore fouled Wagner on a jump shot, which turned into a three-point play. Self called timeout after Zach Clemence and Passmore weren’t on the same page, leading to a turnover that yielded a transition layup by Knox.

The Jayhawks looked significantly improved defensively out of the timeout, forcing four straight stops and cutting into the deficit on a pair of baskets by Harris. But an Arkansas timeout prevented them from building any additional traction and Fland continued to torment KU on both sides of the ball with a steal and five straight points. By halftime, Fland had a game-high 14 points with three assists and three steals, and a late second-chance bucket by Johnell Davis gave the Razorbacks a 45-33 halftime lead.

“He blew up every screen, he blew up every passing lane as a point guard’s supposed to do,” Harris said of Fland.

The intermission didn’t seem to do KU any favors. By the midway point of the third quarter the Jayhawks had seen their deficit balloon to 18 points on a pair of occasions, and they continued to struggle from the field. KU did not make a field goal for nearly four minutes ahead of a layup by Jamari McDowell, and Arkansas immediately responded with a 3-pointer by Davis.

On the bright side for the Jayhawks, Passmore found his stride a bit late in the third quarter and managed to total eight points in the period. Harris said postgame that Self called Passmore the Jayhawks’ best player of the night.

Harris continued his lights-out showing from deep into the fourth quarter, but Knox responded with an immediate three-point play through a foul by Clemence. However, Harris pounded away with drive after drive to get KU as close as 73-61 before Arkansas scored a pair of transition layups off turnovers by Adams and stretched its lead back out.

The Jayhawks will return home for a second exhibition against Washburn on Tuesday at 7 p.m., by which time they expect their injured players to have resumed practicing.

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