Stanford Basketball: 2019-20 takeaways from loss to Kansas Jayhawks

1. Stanford defense held their own

Before this Kansas game, the Cardinal defense was their strength.  Nothing has changed on that front.  Stanford stifled the Jayhawk inside game. Their post trap will give teams fits in the Pac-12.

After playing the Jayhawks, Stanford is ranked #21 in opponents’ adjusted efficiency.  The Cardinal rank in the top 100 in 14 different KenPom defensive rating categories.

Junior Daejon Davis and freshman Tyrell Terry make a terrific guard tandem.  They are very good at transition defense and held Jayhawk star guard Devon Dotson (19.2 ppg) to 14 points on 5 for 15 shooting (0 for 4 three-pointers).   Unfortunately, Moss (7.0 ppg) caught fire to lead Kansas with 17 points (4 for 7 three-pointers).

6’9 junior Oscar da Silva and 6’7 Spencer Jones shut down the bigger Jayhawks along with help from 6’10 sophomore reserve Lukas Kisunas.  Their weak-side collapse held Azubuike and McCormack to only three field-goal attempts total for the game.  6’6 sophomore contributed with a team-high three steals.

However, Kansas was able to exploit the Cardinal defense with guards Ochai Agbaji and Marcus Garrett slashing to the hoop.  Stanford will need to focus on clogging the lane better as they go forward.

All in all, it was a solid performance by the Stanford defense against Kansas who is ranked 14th in offensive efficiency.  The Jayhawk three-point success was a bit of an anomaly from them and caught Stanford by surprise.