LAWRENCE — There’s so much more doubt swirling around Kansas basketball’s potential this season right now than there was a week ago.
Losing 62-61 on Tuesday at home against West Virginia will do that. The No. 7 Jayhawks (9-3, 0-1 in Big 12 Conference) hadn’t lost a league opener in more than 30 years and looked rough — to put it lightly — for far too much of it.
This is a team that entered the season with aspirations for success both in the Big 12 and nationally, with a bevy of talent at its disposal, that now seems far too vulnerable to reach those goals.
But fans looking for some sort of positive from the lackluster effort should’ve seen one in Flory Bidunga. Bidunga, a freshman forward, proved to be a boost off the bench for Kansas against the Mountaineers. He finished with eight points and 11 rebounds.
Those 11 rebounds were a career-high for a former McDonald’s All-American, and his continued emergence means coach Bill Self has a decision to make when it comes to getting Bidunga more minutes — even if it means some veterans playing less.
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“Maybe we just play three bigs and just rotate those guys equally, but Flory’s got to play more,” Self said after the WVU loss.
“But the bottom line is the reason he’s got to play more is because we’re not really getting a lot out of a couple positions right now. And we’ve had some good practices, but obviously today — that’s as miserable of an offensive team as I’ve seen play in this building in 22 years. That was horrid. So, second half was a little better, but time and score dictated why we played better. Because when you’re behind and time’s running out, your team is more aggressive. We were never aggressive in the first half whatsoever.”
A player’s plus-minus in the box score after a game shouldn’t be the absolute decider in how well someone competed, but Bidunga’s plus-eight in that category was second-best against West Virginia. That was only behind a senior guard in David Coit, who also came off the bench and finished +12. It’s important to note, too, that both of them played about 17 minutes, and most of those minutes came in Kansas’ far better second half.
Bidunga wasn’t without his mistakes against the Mountaineers. That free throw in the waning seconds that put West Virginia up 62-61 and proved to be the winning point came because of a foul that was called on Bidunga. But that miscue is something Self would take responsibility for after the game, and even if it was all on Bidunga, he did far more to help put the Jayhawks in position to win than he did to hurt them.
Ahead of Sunday’s road game at UCF, another Big 12 matchup, Bidunga is averaging 6.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks per game across 12.6 minutes. Proof of playing Bidunga more being the right decision doesn’t mean those numbers have to increase dramatically if he’s playing closer to 17 or 18 minutes per game during league play.
The proof will be in the energy Bidunga provides, putting Kansas in a position it’s fallen short of in-game too often in the last month against high-major competition.
“I mean, (Bidunga’s) defense was incredible,” senior guard Zeke Mayo said after the WVU loss. “I mean, you don’t — it’s not often you see a 6-9 guy pick up a point guard 94 feet. Like, that’s just incredible. His athleticism it really was on display tonight. And then, obviously, came up huge with some offensive rebounds and some great looks from the guy when he’s posting up and sealing inside. I mean, he just played an overall fantastic game.”
Graduate center Hunter Dickinson added: “I mean, he really came in and brought a lot of energy, especially in that second half. He definitely fueled that comeback. He’s the best athlete, in my opinion, on the floor every time.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball’s Flory Bidunga needs more of a role this season
