Kansas forward Flory Bidunga (40) smiles as he awaits a pair of Kansas free throws between Kansas State guard Coleman Hawkins (33) and Kansas State guard Brendan Hausen (11) during the second half on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Kansas center Hunter Dickinson had a feeling teammate KJ Adams’ absence might come up in the postgame press conference.

The Jayhawks had just played their first game without Adams seeing the floor since March 25, 2022. How did Dickinson’s role change without his senior teammate in the frontcourt, and with, at times, guard AJ Storr defending opposing forwards and needing Dickinson’s support in the post?

“I know that’s a pressing question all of you wanted to ask, for sure,” Dickinson said.

The topic stood out on what was an up-and-down day for KU at the power-forward position, much as it was overall at Allen Fieldhouse as the Jayhawks weathered a game of runs for a slightly uneasy 84-74 victory over Kansas State.

KU’s treatment of the Wildcats’ frontcourt — which at times paired stretch forward Coleman Hawkins with 6-foot-9 David N’Guessan, and at times with 7-foot Kentucky transfer Ugonna Onyenso — sheds light on what the Jayhawks will do going forward if the adaptable defender Adams isn’t available against two-big lineups.

They will, at least initially, play Dickinson with freshman center Flory Bidunga, a first-time starter on Saturday as much as possible and hope against hope that neither player gets into foul trouble.

“He’s been the best of the other guys, at least to this point,” Self said postgame about the choice to start Bidunga. “There really wasn’t a decision to be made on that. And if you look at it statistically, our best team analytically regardless of who’s in the game the best combination is Flory and Hunter, when you talk about points per possession offensively and points given up defensively.”

Indeed, when both players were out on the court on Saturday, as they were for 19 minutes and 40 seconds, KU excelled. The Jayhawks posted a plus-22 scoring margin with their two-big lineups against K-State — which included a game-opening 14-0 run in which both scored and Bidunga had a key offensive rebound to set up Zeke Mayo for a 3-pointer. In general, Bidunga provides a solid, albeit inexperienced, replacement for Adams’ athleticism and energy, with the added bonus of a long wingspan and therefore high potential as a shot-blocker.

But with Adams and Zach Clemence both out — Adams with a separated shoulder and Clemence with a groin injury — KU had no other forward options on the bench, meaning it had to rest the two centers one at a time and play four guards around them for extended stretches.

In this setup, any foul trouble could be calamitous — and the Jayhawks found themselves squarely in trouble midway through the second half when Bidunga set an illegal screen and then hit Hawkins on a shot in the span of a minute, committing his third and fourth fouls of the day.

“He fouled a little bit, but he’s going against some good players, guys who are savvy and able to draw fouls like that,” Dickinson said. “That’s something that we’re working on, something he’s working on. He’s young, he wants to block everything and that’s a great attribute for him and he does that at a high level.”

Added Self: “Early on, I’d thought they’d really go after those guys just because of our lack of depth upfront, but they did a good job for the most part. Flory ended up getting four, but I think that Coleman did a good job playing to his experience and maybe some of our inexperience in some ways.”

Bidunga’s issues meant (relatively) extended run for Storr, whose 18 minutes were his most in conference play, and while he did chip in seven points on offense, he largely spent them trying to avoid conceding easy buckets in the paint to the 6-foot-10, 235-pound Hawkins.

It was an increased role for Storr but hardly the one anyone would have envisioned when he joined the Jayhawks in the offseason from Wisconsin.

“It’s good having AJ out there,” Dickinson said, by way of answer to the aforementioned press-conference question. “I know it’s been real ups and downs, but he’s had such a great attitude through it all. I really commend him for that. It could have been easy for him to jump off ship early on, but he’s stayed with it.

“… The role’s starting to expand slowly and slowly since KJ’s out, and I think he had ups and downs like everybody, but he went out there, played hard and played good today.”

Sometimes, Hawkins backed Storr down in the post. Other times, albeit less frequently, the 6-foot-7 wing demonstrated enough physicality and quick-wittedness to keep up, like when he slapped the ball away from Hawkins to force a crucial turnover with seven minutes to go.

Still others, KU tried post double-teams with varying degrees of effectiveness. At one point late in the first half, an ill-timed attempt at a double left Onyenso wide open for an uncontested dunk.

Because of plays like that, Onyenso scored nine points, his highest number since Nov. 19 against Mississippi Valley State, and Hawkins ended up dishing seven assists.

Self said it was clear that in the game’s final 30 minutes, after the Jayhawks started out up 14-0 and 20-4, they missed Adams.

“A lot of times with KJ out there you make a mistake and the other team doesn’t even realize you made a mistake,” Self added.

Adams’ status going forward is uncertain, as Self previously called him “week to week.” He will not play at TCU on Wednesday.

The good news for KU is that many Big 12 teams — including TCU — play fairly small lineups around one center. The Horned Frogs start former Jayhawk Ernest Udeh Jr. and don’t give significant playing time to anyone else over 6-foot-8. Of course, as K-State did, future opponents could choose to go bigger than usual to attack KU’s new weakness.