KU basketball opponent breakdown: Why KJ Adams’ defense could be key vs. the Hoosiers

The Kansas men’s basketball team faces Indiana on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse in a battle of college basketball bluebloods.

The two teams last played in 2016 at the Armed Forces Classic game in Honolulu, where the Hoosiers prevailed in an overtime thriller 103-99.

This time around, No. 14 Indiana will play at Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since 1993. The Hoosiers come off an 89-75 loss to Arizona.

Second-year Indiana coach Mike Woodson leads a team that is a formidable on both ends of the court. Indiana has held seven of 10 opponents this season to under 40.0% shooting from the floor, plus have a star big man that could cause matchup issues for an undersized Kansas team.

Below is a scouting report and prediction of the game.

Saturday’s game: No. 14 Indiana at No. 8 Kansas

When/where: 11:00 A.M., Allen Fieldhouse

TV/Streaming: ESPN2

Opponent’s record: 8-2

All statistics are from KenPom.com, Hoop-Math.com and EvanMiya. KenPom stats only include Division-I competition.

Indiana Team Strengths

• Balanced on both ends: Indiana plays well on both sides of the ball, ranking 23rd in offensive efficiency (112.7) and 22nd in defensive efficiency (91.1). Offensive efficiency means points per 100 possessions, while defensive is the points given up. KU is slightly better, with a top-15 ranking in both.

• Make the most of their shots: Nationally, the Hoosiers rank third in field-goal percentage (51.1%) and 15th in two-point percentage (58). Indianaalso ranks 14th in effective field-goal percentage in transition (64.9%).

• Protect the paint: Indiana ranks 16th in blocks per game (5.6). The Hoosiers do a great job of keeping teams out of the paint, ranking sixth in block percentage at the rim (20.4).

Indiana Team Weaknesses

• Old school play: Indiana ranks 300th in three-point attempt percentage (32.7%). This stat is calculated by dividing three-point attempts by field goal attempts. The Hoosiers also shoot 36.4% from three, which ranks 83rd.

• No free points: Indiana struggles to get to the free-throw line. They rank 213th in offensive free-throw rate (29.3%). When the Hoosiers do make it to the line, they struggle to convert and rank 169th in free-throw percentage (70.9%).

• Don’t crash the glass: Indiana ranks 111th in rebounds per game (37.2). Despite forward Trayce Jackson-Davis averaging 3.1 offensive rebounds per game, the Hoosiers rank 145th in offensive rebounding percentage (29.9%)

Player To Watch

6-foot-9 senior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (No. 23)

+ Highly efficient scorer (64.5% FG this season), including shooting 73.2% at the rim

+ Great rim protector. He ranks 30th in the nation in blocks per game (2).

+ Elite rebounder who averages 8.4 rebounds per game

+ Incredible overall athlete

- He’s not a three-point shooter. He has shot three three-pointers in his entire career.

- He struggles at the free-throw line (66% FT)

Tale of the Tape

The Hoosiers love to punish teams in transition. In this instance, after a miss by Arizona, Indiana guard Xavier Johnson gunned it up the court and threw a quick pass to Tamar Bates, who made the three-point shot. Indiana loves to prey on teams that don’t get set in transition, so Kansas has to be alert and get back to set up the defense.

Indiana does a great job of ensuring their scorers get into their spots. In this clip, forward Malik Reneau received the pass on the left side of the free-throw line, drove hard to his left and dumped a pass to All-American forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. Jackson-Davis calmly went up through the contact, made the basket and received the foul for the and-one. The key for the Jayhawks will be to ensure Indiana players such as Jackson-Davis aren’t in their usual spots for scoring and limit touches in their hot spots.

Game Prediction

KU comes in red-hot. The Jayhawks have won three straight games, including a dominant 95-67 win over rival Missouri.

In many ways, each teams is a mirror image of the other. Both teams play both sides of the ball, play at a similar pace and don’t shoot a lot of threes (KU ranks 253rd in three-point attempt percentage).

The game could come down to who can commit the least mistakes on defense and capitalize from beyond the arc.

Pay special attention to the matchup between Jackson-Davis and Kansas’ KJ Adams. Adams needs to make Jackson-Davis uncomfortable on offense, limit his quality shots and keep Jackson-Davis off the boards. If Adams can do that, then Kansas should win.

I think Adams does just enough and KU comes out with the victory.

Kansas 83, Indiana 79

Shreyas’ season record: 2-0

Player to Watch: KJ Adams

Adams is primarily known for his defensive prowess but has impressed lately on the offensive end. The forward comes off a career-high 19 points and six rebounds against Missouri and has scored double-digit points in his last three games. Adams will have the gargantuan task of guarding Indiana’s Jackson-Davis. As Kansas coach Bill Self said, Adam is the only KU big with the experience of guarding a player of Jackson-Davis’ caliber. If Adams can slow down Jackson-Davis and contribute anything on the offensive end, it’s hard to see Indiana winning this game.