Kansas Basketball: Three keys for the Jayhawks to avoid a first round upset

3. Hit Free Throws

Games can be won and lost from the charity stripe. Especially in the last few minutes of a game.

This matchup will feature two of the worst free throw shooting teams in the country.

Penn shoots worse than 67% from the foul line, making them one of the 30 worst teams nationally.

Kansas isn’t much better though. They hit exactly 70% of their freebies, putting them at 233rd in the country.

If it’s a close game down the stretch, neither coach will be particularly confident when their player’s head to the line.

This would likely be a bigger deal for the Jayhawks. Penn would most likely be the team trying to play catch-up, fouling Kansas to try to make up that ground.

It could go the other way around, but if the Jayhawks are the ones playing catch-up they’ve got a lot more to worry about than their free throw shooting.

In reality, this game likely won’t be close enough for this one to matter, but it’s a domino effect that would lead to the upset.

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If Penn is able to contain Kansas’ three-point shooting, and the Jayhawks’ defense doesn’t play at a high level, then the Quakers have a chance to keep it close.

And with the way the Jayhawks shoot free throws, anything can happen at that point.