Kansas Basketball: Can the Jayhawk’s offense keep rolling against Clemson?

Kansas basketball rode their elite offense to a Sweet 16 showdown against Clemson. They’ll have to keep that hot shooting going to take down the Tigers.

Kansas’ offense couldn’t have started off much worse in the NCAA Tournament. For the first 12 minutes of their game against Penn, the Jayhawks only managed eight points, falling behind the Quakers by double digits.

Then the Jayhawks seemed to flip a switch.

If you combine the stats from the rest of the Penn game with their win on Sunday over Seton Hall, it looks like this:

• 151 Points
• 50.5% FG
• 48.4% 3-PT FG
• 76.3% FT

Kansas boasts one of the best offenses in the nation, but this hot streak goes above and beyond what they usually produce.

Staying Hot

Now, the Jayhawks enter their 12th straight Sweet 16, and they’re matched up against a Clemson squad that just obliterated Auburn by 31 points.

The Tigers are a whole new challenge for Kansas. Against Penn, they took on a team that was good on both sides of the ball, but not elite on either offense or defense.

Once the Jayhawks got going offensively, they won that one pretty handily, 76-60.

Against Seton Hall, Kansas faced their mirror image, a team with an elite offense and a middling defense.

That game turned into a shootout, with the Jayhawks escaping 83-79.

Now, Kansas faces a Clemson squad that boasts a top-tier defense, along with an offense that’s good enough to be dangerous.

The Tigers hold their opponents to 65.5 points per game, good for 25th in the nation. They’ve held 10 out of their last 12 opponents under 70 points.

Will the Jayhawks be able to keep their hot-shooting offense going against an elite defense?

That’s the million-dollar question.

Kansas doesn’t win many games with their defense. They win by outshooting their opponents, just like they did against Seton Hall.

If the Jayhawks don’t shoot well, they’ll be in for a long night. While Clemson’s defense will look to cool down Kansas’ shooting, their offense leaves the Jayhawks little room for error.

Next: How Clemson can upset Kansas

The Tigers have scored 79 and 84 points in their first two games. Don’t count on the Kansas defense to hold them to much lower than that.

So we can expect another barnburner in this game, and the Jayhawks had better be able to bring the heat again.