Hawking Points: BYU Smashes a Broken Kansas Team

The state of Utah may have been where the Kansas Jayhawks’ season went to die. Because if you thought Saturday’s loss to the Utes was bad, BYU’s 34-point blowout of KU on Tuesday was the icing on the disaster cake.

Key Plays

KJ Adams dunks were about the only successful offense for Kansas in the first 10 minutes of the game. BYU finally got cold from the field and Rylan Griffen hit a much-needed three to cut the lead to eight after a 7-0 run.

With KU down 19 and two minutes to go in the half, what should have been a ninth KU turnover turned into a Shak Moore and-one, though he missed the free throw.

Eye-Catching Stat Lines

The stats were all eye-catching for the wrong reasons. Kansas shot just 36.5% from the field and turned it over 15 times. Meanwhile, BYU hit 14 threes and 38.9% from three.

Dickinson recorded a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds but on just 5-13 shooting. David Coit was the only other player in double figures with 11, while Griffen had nine. 

Eye-Covering Moments

In less than two minutes, Kansas already dug itself into an 8-0 hole as BYU hit two threes early. Just as bad was letting the Cougars get extra opportunities with offensive rebounds.

The lead got out to 22-7 BYU as Dickinson got owned on the glass by Keba Keita, who had two offensive boards and two defensive rebounds in the first 10 minutes. Seven turnovers from KU and more threes from BYU gave the Cougars a 33-17 lead with five to play in the half. BYU hit nine of its first 21 threes in the first half.

Down 20 in the final possession of the half, Dickinson missed another three-foot shot to ensure it wouldn’t cut into the lead. Kansas gave up 46 points in the first half.

Dickinson made a three for the first points of the second half and then KU promptly gave up an 8-0 run.

Takeaways

This felt like a make or break game for Kansas when it came to this team’s ability to turn the season around and give hope for the future. Well if so, it’s clear. This team doesn’t care, doesn’t try, and doesn’t have what it takes to make a run in March. There’s still time to be proven wrong, but it hasn’t been seen in a long time.