Kansas Basketball: Jayhawks can’t start slow against Seton Hall

For eight minutes on Thursday, the Kansas offense disappeared. That disappearing act can’t happen again if the Jayhawks want to beat Seton Hall.

It was almost like two different Kansas basketball teams showed up to play in their NCAA Tournament opener against Penn.

For the first twelve minutes of the game, the Jayhawks seemed to forget the key tenet of basketball: you have to make baskets to win.

With eight minutes left in the first half, Kansas trailed Penn 21-11, and this was the Jayhawks’ offensive production to that point:

• 5-18 FG (27.8%)
• 1/7 3PT (14.8%)
• 0 FT
• 4 TO

That magical first-round upset of a No. 1 seed looked like a real possibility at that point.

But then Kansas turned it on offensively. The Jayhawks scored at will, and turned that 10-point deficit into a 16-point win.

Their offensive numbers the rest of the game:

• 22-43 FG (51.2%)
• 6/10 3PT (60.0%)
• 15/17 FT (88.2%)
• 4 TO

Those numbers more closely represent the elite offense that propelled Kansas to another Big 12 title and a No. 1 seed.

The win extends the Jayhawks’ streak of consecutive years reaching the Round of 32 to twelve. That’s the longest current streak in the nation.

Looking Forward

But now Kansas has to turn their attention to Seton Hall, and they can’t afford another stagnant start against the Pirates.

Seton Hall is a better offensive squad than Penn, and a more talented team overall. If Kansas starts this game as horribly as they did against the Quakers, their deficit will be much larger than 10.

And this time, a comeback would be that much harder.

The Pirates average nearly 80 points per game, so they have the firepower to hang with the Jayhawks if this game turns into an offensive showcase. And they certainly have the firepower to make Kansas pay for long scoring droughts.

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This is a game that the Jayhawks should win, but another twelve horrible minutes of offense could mean the end of Kansas’ season.