John Rieger-USA Today Sports
There is nothing harder in basketball then to score on a great defensive team.? Some teams are able to just pressure the ball and every player off the ball without allowing any dribble penetration or anyone to get open.? It?s frustrating to play against, but when your playing great defense it becomes contagious.
Kansas played that type of defense against their rival, Texas.? You want to talk about smother defense, Kansas let up just 47 points and only 15 of them came in the first half.? Those 47 points came on 22% shooting and 10% shooting from behind the arc.? That is just hard nose lock-down defense and the Longhorns had no answer.
It helps when you have Jeff Withey down low to erase any opportunity the opposing team gets in the paint.? Withey in fact, set the Big 12 Conference record for blocked shots last night as he recorded a below average, two blocked shots.? He was able to grab 4 steals though to make up for his ?lack? of blocked shots.
The Jayhawks recorded 10 steals in total, but if they can contest shots like they did last night, no one is going to beat them.? Their speed and quickness allows them to close out on shooters and help on the drive without letting up uncontested shots.? They are playing against Division 1 basketball players, but that doesn?t mean they knock down contested jump shots and that was proven last night.
Kansas lost three straight games before winning their last two mostly because of their lack of offense, but they have gotten back on track more because their improved defense then improved offense.
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