It seemed as if Kansas guard Dajuan Harris was always one step ahead of No. 14 Indiana’s defense in the No. 8 Jayhawks’ 84-62 rout of the Hoosiers on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
Harris recorded his first career double-double, scoring 10 points and tying a career-high 10 assists, on a day when six Jayhawks found themselves in double-digit scoring. The redshirt junior chipped in three of the KU defense’s season-high 17 steals.
Kansas jumped out to an early 12-2 lead nearly four minutes after tipoff and led IU by 15 at halftime. Through just 10 first-half minutes, Harris played a key role in establishing early momentum on razor-sharp passes – like this one.
“He’s got eyes everywhere, all around his head,” Self said. “He can see and he can count. They used to say this about Jacque Vaughn. He can count to nine, so he can see what nine guys are doing on the floor at once. And Dajuan has that same gift. He can think two passes ahead.”
Self ended his postgame availability with a note on just how capable Harris has become as a ball handler.
“The more guys dribble it’s usually bad, the more (Harris) dribbles is good for us,” Self said. “A team’s playing good defense and then, all of a sudden, a guy turns his head, and he makes them pay. He’s got a great feel. I’ve said it a thousand times, I can’t imagine there’s a more underrated player in the country than what Dajuan is.”
Harris’ keen sight set up assists all over the floor, including a two-hand jam by true freshman forward Zuby Ejiofor to squash IU’s momentum after outscoring Kansas 9-4 to begin the second half.
Ejiofor, a McDonald’s All-American, shared minutes on the block with starting forward KJ Adams Jr. throughout Saturday’s game. Harris feels the freshman demonstrated his playmaking ability versus the Hoosiers.
“(Self) preaches to our young bigs, that if they want to play, all you got to do is set screens, block shots, and catch lobs and he did that today,” Harris said. “(Ejiofor)’s one of our best jumpers on the team. He's very athletic. So, if he keeps being athletic, he's going to play a lot.”
Talented Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, arguably the Jayhawks’ biggest threat on Saturday, blocked nine shots and scored a team-high 13 points at the five. Jackson-Davis was held to just 4 of 8 from the field, chipping in 5 of 6 from the stripe.
Locking down IU’s go-to big man was always the plan, and Harris was impressed by the KU defense that held the Hoosiers, Jackson-Davis included, to a season-best 20 of 53 (38%) shooting on the day.
“We just played one of the best bigs in the country,” Harris said. “That was our focus trying to slow him down. I think this is one of our best defensive games and I think we can do better than we did today."
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