LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball recovered Sunday with a 99-48 win on the road during Big 12 Conference play against UCF.
The No. 7 Jayhawks (10-3, 1-1 in Big 12) just captured their first league win on the season. That came after a disappointing loss at home just days earlier against West Virginia. UCF (10-3, 1-1 in Big 12) never led or even came close to having the potential to rush the court at the end of this matchup.
Here are a few takeaways from this game:
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Kansas showcased the energy it lacked in previous road games
Kansas enjoyed its first true road win on Sunday, and for good reason. Not just because of how well the Jayhawks shot the ball or defended, but because of the extent to which they started the game with so much energy and sustained that over the course of 40 minutes. In the past two road games they played this season, at Creighton and Missouri, that wasn’t nearly the case.
Look at the way a starter like senior forward KJ Adams stepped up and rebounded after a disappointing performance against West Virginia. Look at the way players off the bench stepped up, like junior guards AJ Storr and Rylan Griffen, as they ensured offensively that just because head coach Bill Self played those beyond his starters for significant stretches didn’t mean UCF would be able to mount some sort of comeback. And, perhaps, freshman forward Flory Bidunga’s play overall proved that more than anyone else’s.
Flory Bidunga has chance to make Big 12’s all-freshman team
Regardless of how early it is to start to have the discussion of which freshman will be the Big 12’s best this season, Bidunga has earned the right to be in that conversation. After thriving in the loss against West Virginia, he might have played even better in the win against UCF. This time, he finished with 12 points, six blocks and five rebounds.
It could be easy to say Bidunga just took advantage of a blowout performance by his team as a whole, but that wouldn’t be fair to him. Take a look, for instance, at a sequence in which he blocked a shot, grabbed the rebound and dunked the ball for a bucket at the other end. There were a number of Kansas players who made highlight-worthy plays Sunday, but none likely matched up with what Bidunga did in that moment.
Now, it’s on Kansas to sustain this effort
Just proving it can play this well in Big 12 competition, or on the road anywhere, isn’t enough for a Kansas team that has aspirations to win the league and compete for a national championship. The Jayhawks have to ensure they can sustain this type of effort moving forward as they face even tougher competition — both at home and on the road. That joy fans could see on the sideline across the matchup against UCF, and especially late among the KU players celebrating their teammates making plays, should be a common occurrence in the weeks to come.
The next three games of Big 12 play will see Kansas face Arizona State (home), Cincinnati (away) and Iowa State (away). All three can be losses if the Jayhawks play how they did against West Virginia. All three can be wins if they play how they did against UCF.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball showcases its potential in victory on road at UCF
