5 takeaways from Kansas basketball’s exhibition win, including David Coit’s big night

LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball wrapped up its preseason exhibition slate Tuesday with an 84-53 win at home against Washburn.

Head coach Bill Self’s squad still wasn’t at full strength, with graduate center Hunter Dickinson and graduate guard Shakeel Moore both out, but junior guard Rylan Griffen was able to return to action. Griffen helped the Jayhawks, a Division I program, build substantial leads against the Division II-level Ichabods that reached as high as 41 points. And he certainly wasn’t the only one to have a quality evening.

Here are five takeaways from the exhibition, which Self said Dickinson and Moore likely would have played in if it was a regular season game:

Kansas basketball vs Washburn recap: Jayhawks capture exhibition game victory

David Coit enjoys a big night

Senior guard David Coit led Kansas and all scorers with 19 points. He started the game and went on to shoot 7-for-12 from the field and 5-for-10 from behind the arc. After Coit’s shots didn’t fall in the exhibition loss against Arkansas, it was an opportunity to showcase just how much of a boost he can give the team when they do.

Coit said he wasn’t bothered by the shots not falling against Arkansas, because he liked all of them. He was glad to get a game like that out of the way. He came off the bench that game, before starting Tuesday, and noted it doesn’t matter to him who starts or not moving forward because different games could necessitate different strategies and opportunities will still be there — like for senior guard Zeke Mayo, who had 16 points off the bench Tuesday.

Kansas basketball guard David Coit (8) dribbles down court against Washburn in the first half of a game inside Allen Fieldhouse on Oct. 29, 2024.

Zeke Mayo shines

Mayo also had a much better game Tuesday than he did against Arkansas, and scored 11 of his points in the second half. He credited that, in part, to Kansas’ guards getting downhill and finding him for open shots. Self was encouraged by Mayo’s…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/5-takeaways-kansas-basketball-exhibition-180204795.html

Author : The Topeka Capital-Journal

Publish date : 2024-10-30 18:02:00

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