How Kansas basketball survived a Samford scare in its NCAA Tournament opener

Before Thursday’s game, Kansas athletic director Travis Goff said he was hopeful the NCAA Tournament would allow the Jayhawks to reset and renew their focus.

In a season mired with injuries and inconsistency for a team that’s hyper-aware of what critics online think, Kansas certainly could’ve used an easy first-round win to build some confidence.

Forward KJ Adams even told The Star on Thursday: “We just (want) to let everyone know that we are still the Kansas team we’ve been for the last couple of years.”

For a while, yes. Then ... not so much.

What began as a blowout — KU led by 22 in the second half — turned into a nail-biter late. The Jayhawks regained just enough composure to hold on for a 93-89 win at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Samford cut KU’s big second-half lead to one point with 5:14 to play. The Jayhawks responded with a 7-1 run, highlighted by a Nick Timberlake 3-pointer, to go back up 86-79. It appeared to be a knockout punch.

Samford kept swinging.

The Bulldogs cut the deficit to two with 38 seconds left, when Achor Achor, who had been cramping late, threw down a thunderous dunk. Adams beat the press for a dunk of his own, but Samford responded with a 3-pointer.

The Kansas lead was one, 90-89.

On the next possession, Timberlake was fouled on a runaway dunk attempt, though the replays showed there was no body or arm contact, only ball. He made two free throws to put Kansas up 3.

The Jayhawks defended the ensuing Samford offensive possession, with Elmarko Jackson recovering a rebound and throwing it off a Samford player out of bounds. Johnny Furphy made one free throw to seal the game.

Adams finished with 20 points, while an injured Hunter Dickinson, who sported a shoulder wrap, scored 19. Timberlake also scored 19 points, none bigger than his late 3 and free throws to help Kansas ride out the win.

No. 4-seeded Kansas (23-10) advances to face No. 5 Gonzaga in the Round of 32 on Saturday.

Until then, here are three takeaways from Thursday’s game…

Kansas plays well against the press … mostly

On Thursday, Dajuan Harris and Furphy told The Star the Jayhawks hoped to use Samford’s fast pace against it.

Well, KU did just that and beat the Bulldogs’ various presses for much of the game.

While KU committed 18 turnovers, there were plenty of easy baskets that came against the press. The Jayhawks shot 69.2% from the field in the first half. It was their most efficient offensive first half in nearly a decade of NCAA Tournament basketball.

In breaking the press, the Jayhawks asked multiple players to handle the ball. They had Timberlake float around to receive a pass at midcourt; he would then turn and charge toward the rim. It forced the Samford defense to rotate out of position and led to easy baskets for Dickinson and Adams.

For the game, the Jayhawks shot 60.3% from the field, a promising sign after the offense had dipped in recent games.

Kansas controls the boards

This was not a big opponent for KU — literally speaking.

The Bulldogs rank No. 349 in average player height. A tall, lengthy team, they were not, and a 7-2 Hunter Dickinson gave the Jayhawks a definite advantage on the glass.

Well, the Jayhawks took full advantage of that.

At one point, Furphy reached over the top of a much smaller Samford player to collect an offensive rebound. The Samford bench was irate, wanting an over-the-back call.

Instead, the bench got hit with a technical foul.

The Jayhawks won the rebounding battle 44-35, though Samford actually grabbed more offensive rebounds, 14-8. The Jayhawks had 10 second-chance points and needed just about every one of them.

No McCullar, no problem

Kansas was missing 18.3 points per game without McCullar, but the team did an excellent job picking up the slack without him.

All five Jayhawk starters scored double-digit points. The Jayhawks also scored 54 points in the paint, many of which came after they broke the press.

Furphy scored 16 points and Harris added 13 to round out the starters. Jackson even chipped in with six points off the bench.

As the Jayhawks look to navigate the NCAA Tournament without McCullar, they’ll need several players to step up to keep up with opponents. Offense wasn’t a problem on Thursday, as the Jayhawks scored 93 points.