How Gradey Dick, KJ Adams combined for biggest play in KU basketball win

The result of Friday night’s Kansas-Southern Utah men’s basketball game remained very much in doubt when point guard Dajuan Harris had his layup blocked with 45 seconds left — with the Jayhawks nursing a one-point lead.

In a best-possible scenario for the home team, the deflection was retrieved by sophomore forward KJ Adams, who threw the ball out to Gradey Dick. The freshman guard flushed a three to give the Jayhawks a four-point advantage.

That shot following Adams’ hustle play gave KU the breathing room it needed to finally subdue the Thunderbirds, 82-76, at Allen Fieldhouse and assure the Jayhawks a perfect record in the four games to open the season with KU assistant Norm Roberts as acting head coach.

“It’s energy. A lot of people call me the ‘energy guy’ or ‘garbage man.’ I’m always there to make those plays other people don’t want to make,” Adams, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound sophomore from Austin, Texas, said of locating the basketball — especially when his team needs a rebound the most.

“It was the perfect time to make it. I got it to Gradey. He hit a tough shot that really helped us,” Adams added.

Dick didn’t hesitate in drilling a fourth three in six attempts. He finished with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

Overall, KU hit 6 of 15 threes to SUU’s 9 of 28. KU hit 50.8% of its floor shots to Southern Utah’s 37.8%.

“I knew it was a close game, obviously,” Dick, a freshman guard from Wichita, said about launching his key three. “KJ was terrific, his energy the whole game. … He got the offensive rebound. I was open. Next shot, short memory. I shot it.”

KU added a pair of free throws the last 30 seconds while preventing the Thunderbirds from scoring as the Jayhawks bagged a narrow victory four days after KU’s 69-64 victory over Duke in the Champions Classic.

“We didn’t play with intensity today,” said acting coach Roberts. He now hands the reins back to KU head coach Bill Self, who sat out the first four games as part of a self-imposed penalty to start the 2022-23 campaign in response to the NCAA’s investigation into KU hoops. Self has been leading the team at practice; Roberts has taken over during the games.

“We talked about being focused and competing. We didn’t do that. We were a step slow tonight,” Roberts added.

KU junior forward Jalen Wilson scored a career-high 33 points on 12-of-22 shooting with six rebounds and four assists, while junior lead guard Harris had 14 points with five rebounds and four steals.

Senior guard Kevin McCullar had five points, eight boards, three steals, four assists and five turnovers, while Adams finished with eight point and six boards.

“I think we did a pretty poor job tonight,” Adams said, adding, “I think coach (Self) is going to be excited to see us. I think we’ll get that squared away next time we see him.”

Roberts explained some of the Jayhawks’ errors.

“They played how we thought they’d play,” Roberts said of the Thunderbirds (3-2). “We didn’t have good ball and body movement. We talked about sharing the ball, making simple plays. There were too many one-handed passes. We had so many ill-advised turnovers, ones they did nothing to cause them. We’ve got to clean up a lot of that stuff.

“It’s always good when you can get a win and grind it out. We had to grind it out and make some plays. Gradey made a big shot there. We didn’t get a lot from our bench, We had to really rely on Jalen and Dajuan and those guys to play a lot. Jalen was terrific. I also thought KJ played well. He played big, made some big plays, got some big rebounds.”

The Jayhawks trailed by as many as six points in the first half and led by as many as eight late in the second.

“We struggled at times. We got sped up, including myself,” McCullar said. “But at the end of the game we executed. When we needed it the most we got some big plays.”

Like Dick’s three to assure victory — his second crucial three in as many games.

“He (Dick) believes in himself. Coach believes in him. That shot was big-time for us for sure,” McCullar said.

Everybody was sure of one thing after the nail-biter. There are things to work on heading into the upcoming Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. KU will open the tournament at 11 a.m. Central on Wednesday vs. North Carolina State.

“We’re better than what we played,” said Wilson, who hit 12 of 22 shots. He was 2 of 4 from three. “I felt we settled a lot. We shouldn’t let teams play close to us at home at all, especially coming off a big win like Duke. We should have been amped to play that game.”

Adams said the lesson that could be learned is: “We got challenged, because usually when we are in this great arena (Allen Fieldhouse) we get spoiled (by 16,300 fans filling the place every night). We need to do a better job of playing hard the first five minutes. That’s where our momentum comes. That’s where the crowd gets involved. I think we came out flat today. We tried to fix it. We did what we needed to do to win. Now we look at this and learn from it.”

Roberts added that it will “be great to get (Self) back and get after these guys and everything so we can clean some stuff up.”

“It has been a lot of fun,” Roberts added of coaching on game days. “The reason is the guys on the team sticking together, and our coaches have been great.”