Kansas Basketball: Jayhawks seek revenge versus Arizona State

The Kansas basketball team dropped a home game to Arizona State last season, and you can bet that will be on the minds of everyone involved in the game Saturday when the two teams tip off in Tempe.

Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self might call the matchup against Arizona State just another game, but you can bet inside he won’t be treating it that way.

Self has lost just 13 home games as head coach of the Jayhawks. That would be impressive even if he were the Kansas football coach. Even more jaw-dropping is the fact those 13 losses have come in 15-plus years and 253 games.

The Sun Devils are responsible for one of those 13 blemishes just 376 days ago when they turned a 15-2 Jayhawk start into a 95-85 Arizona State win in front of a dismayed Allen Fieldhouse crowd.

Even Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley understood the significance of the victory, per the Associated Press.

"“No one really wins here,” Hurley said after the game. “You come in here, most of the time you’re not leaving real happy.”"

When you hit 14 threes in 28 attempts, you often end up celebrating something like this:

The (not so) funny thing is KU also hit 14 from downtown, but they came in ten more attempts. On the defensive side KU allowed the Sun Devils to shoot 50.8 percent from the field overall. Arizona State also had just ten turnovers to the Jayhawks’ 16.

According to the AP story, Self directed his frustration at the defense.

"“It wasn’t our offense,” he said. “Hey, if you score 85 at home, you’re supposed to win.”"

The good news for Self, as he prepares to pass John Wooden on the all-time coaching wins list, is that his defense is playing at a high level this year. He may not have the trio of guards he had last year hitting three-pointers like they are dunks, but he does have a better defense this season.

The Jayhawks 69.5 points allowed per game would be lowest since the the 2015-16 season. Per teamrankings.com, the Jayhawks currently rank 67th in team defense efficiency. That might not be anything to write home about, but compared to last year’s ranking of 121st, it’s safe to assume Self may be getting a little more sleep at night these days.

He also must be excited about the fact Memphis transfer Dedric Lawson is the only player in the Big 12 averaging a double-double (19.7 ppg and 11.1 rpg), freshman David McCormack is coming off a career-high 12 points with junior big man Udoka Azubuike out and point guard Devon Dotson is starting to play like a seasoned pro.

But even with the top ranking in the land, the Jayhawks have plenty to be worried about when it comes to Arizona State. The Sun Devils have three players averaging double-figures, including talented freshman guard Luguentz Dort who is third in the Pac-12 with an average of 19.8 per game.

Senior forward Zylan Cheatham is averaging a double-double of his own with 11.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists, but did not play in the game last year after transferring from San Diego State.

After a 6-0 start, Hurley’s team has dropped two of their past three games, but one came on a neutral court to number six Nevada. The Sun Devils have been away from home since December 1st and their crowd will be rocking in anticipation of defeating the Jayhawks for a second consecutive season. They have never seen their team lose to Kansas at home where they are 4-0 in a series tied at five games a piece.

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Stars such as Lawson, Dotson and senior Lagerald Vick must obviously play well for the Jayhawks to come out victorious, but if the previously quiet Charlie Moore continues his hot shooting, Kansas could leave Arizona 11-0 and still ranked number one.

Moore, a sophomore transfer from Cal, entered Kansas’ game Tuesday against South Dakota 3-of-22 from three-point range. The Chicago native proceeded to hit 6-of-9 from downtown in the 89-53 KU victory. He also has history with the Sun Devils, scoring 20 points, dishing out nine assists and grabbing five rebounds in two games against them his freshman season.

It would be hard for Self to expect that again from Moore, but it will take a total team effort from the Jayhawks to win this one. Vick, who averages 17.7 points per game, can’t disappear like he did against Michigan State, Wofford and New Mexico State with a combined seven points.

Lawson needs to play his game, Dotson has to feed off his career-high six assists against South Dakota and fellow freshman Quentin Grimes needs to look more like the guy who scored 21 in the season-opener against Michigan State than the one who has averaged just 5.8 since.

If not, Cheatham, Dort and Co. will use a rowdy home crowd to their advantage and hand the Jayhawks their first loss of the season.

That won’t sit well with Self. It might not be a home loss, but the Hall of Famer doesn’t lose many of them anywhere. It would be only his 97th in 554 games at the helm of Kansas. He’d also remain tied with Wooden for 27th on the all-time coaching wins list.

That’s not a bad place to be, but 26th and ahead of Wooden sounds much sweeter.