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Quick review: The Jayhawks show off their shooting skills in an exhibition win over Washburn

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Quick review: The Jayhawks show off their shooting skills in an exhibition win over Washburn

By John Fenwick

October 30, 2024October 30, 2024

3 minutes, 27 seconds Read

Nick Krug

Kansas guard Rylan Griffen (6) celebrates after hitting a three-pointer against Washburn during the first half of an exhibition game Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, at Allen Fieldhouse.

By halftime Tuesday night, the Kansas men's basketball team had made more three-pointers – eight – than in all but one conference game last season.

Playing against a lower division Washburn squad, the new-look Jayhawks picked up the pace in the second half and succinctly demonstrated to the KU faithful their outside linebacker potential in their final performance of the fall by bringing in former KU assistant Brett Ballard defeated Ichabods 84-53.

One of Bill Self's offseason priorities was to address KU's lack of three-point shooting, and the Jayhawks, and especially transfers David Coit, Rylan Griffen and Zeke Mayo, showed a willingness to shoot early and often.

Case in point: Coit, who went scoreless at Arkansas on Friday, got the start against Mayo, missed a game-opening 3-pointer and then scored on an offensive rebound from Flory Bidunga. The Northern Illinois native hit seven of KU's first 12 shots and finished with a team-high 19 points, including 5-for-10 shooting from long range. Mayo and Griffen were with him at 16 and 14.

Overall, KU went 15-33 from distance. Both 15 and 33 would have been single-game highs last year.

Jack Bachelor posted a team-high 13 on 5-for-13 shooting for Washburn.

Early on, after the Jayhawks were stuck at five points for a long time, Coit unhesitatingly hit a second three-pointer, and AJ Storr hit another the next time, making it 11-2. By the six-minute mark, Coit had increased his total to 11 with a layup and a third three-pointer before taking a seat on the bench.

The Jayhawks' only debutant on Tuesday night, Griffen, sank a catch-and-shoot three-pointer shortly after his first appearance to give KU a 21-7 lead.

With the Jayhawks playing a bench-heavy lineup, Washburn had some success attacking freshman Bidunga on the team, but KU used 3s from Jamari McDowell and Griffen to maintain a similar lead.

KJ Adams scored back-to-back baskets to extend KU's lead to 33-14, while the Ichabods went scoreless for more than four minutes before Bachelor hit a three-pointer. Bachelor also converted a three-point play off a Mayo foul, and Tyson Ruud went to the baseline for a dunk to make it 38-22. Washburn took that score into halftime after the Jayhawks botched a play with five seconds left while trying to set up a shot.

Griffen had a chance to pass Storr to open the second half, which paid off early as he hit another 3-pointer to cap the Jayhawks' immediate 7-0 run. KU led by as many as 29 points before Jacob Hanna came into the game strong on Dajuan Harris Jr.'s third foul.

Just before the midway point of the half, the Jayhawks really started to assert themselves, especially during a period in which Mayo hit back-to-back three-pointers, one off a steal from Storr and the other off a nifty assist from Coit. By the U12 timeout they had increased to 70:29, only to slow down significantly afterwards with a 10:3 run by the Ichabods, which culminated in a 3-point run by Bachelor.

Walk-on Wilder Evers entered the game with just over three minutes left and was soon joined by Patrick Cassidy and Justin Cross. During this time, Washburn again scored seven goals in a row to close out the game.

The Jayhawks will officially open their season against Howard on Monday at 7 p.m

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