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Kansas Rolls Past Rhode Island: Four Factors

@CrimsonBlueKU

Kansas passed their first test at the 2014 Orlando Classic defeating Rhode Island, 76-60, on Thanksgiving. The Jayhawks were again led by junior forward Perry Ellis who finished with 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field. Ellis took advantage of the Rams’ smaller front line, which doesn’t feature a player taller than 6-foot-8, to continue his efficient shooting over the past two games. Rhode Island was led by sophomore guard E.C. Matthews. Matthews, the Rams’ most used player, scored 20 points against Kansas, but required 18 shots to get there.

rhode island - four factors

Rhode Island came into the game looking to limit the Jayhawks’ opportunities in the paint by forcing them to hoist up a number of shots from the outside. The Rams’ head coach Dan Hurley noted after the game, “[O]ur game plan was to obviously make them make perimeter shots.” Coming into Thursday’s matchup, Kansas had only connected on 11 of their 42 3-point attempts during the 2014-15 season. However, against the Rams, the Jayhawks finished 8-for-17 from behind the arc; making seven 3-pointers in the first half. Five different Kansas players connected from deep which contributed to a 54.7 percent effective field goal percentage.

Integral to the quality 3-point shooting was the Jayhawks’ continued ability to move the ball well. In particular, it appears that the Kansas point guards are beginning to perform better on the offensive end. Frank Mason III and Devonte’ Graham combined for six assists and zero turnovers against Rhode Island. Both guards worked to get the Jayhawks into their offense in the half court, something that had been a struggle early on in the season. The point guards were also able to put up some points of their own, scoring 22 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field.

The final important component of the game for the Jayhawks was their ability to limit Rhode Island’s ability to knock down easy shots. Kansas continued to play strong 2-point defense against the Rams by holding them to 34.3 percent on their 2-point shots. This is a worthy note because Rhode Island came into the game scoring a substantial amount of points on shots at the rim as I noted in the preview yesterday. The Jayhawks finished with seven blocks and held Matthews and Jared Tarrell to 4-for-18 shooting inside the 3-point arc.

One last note regarding freshman Kelly Oubre. A number of members of the national media are concerned with Oubre’s lack of playing time and Bill Self has taken to becoming more explicit in his post game responses regarding both Oubre and Cliff Alexander, noting that, “There’s a process everybody has to go through.” He continued by saying, “We’ve got a couple of guys with Kelly and Cliff that are going through it. They are going to be terrific players. They are not terrific players yet. The whole thing is you want to do what’s best for your team, first and foremost. Individuals will fall in line, hopefully in line, with what’s best for the team and what’s best for them too.” Oubre simply has not played up to his potential this season. The freshman is putting himself into poor situations by committing weak fouls including two fouls against Rhode Island on Rams defensive rebounds where the rebounder already possessed the ball. Oubre will have to buy into the system in order for him to earn more playing time and given Self’s track record, I don’t doubt that he’ll get the young player up to speed in time for conference play.

Kansas will take on Tennessee Friday morning at 11 a.m. central time.

Be sure to check out Chris on Twitter. This post originally appeared on www.aintnoseats.com. 

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