Kansas basketball’s Dajuan Harris Jr. said Kentucky ‘wanted me to beat them,’ so he did
CHICAGO — Whether or not Kansas basketball guard Dajuan Harris Jr. would shoot the ball enough quickly became a topic of conversation this season.
Harris didn’t take a shot during the No. 1 Jayhawks’ season opener — a 99-56 win against North Carolina Central at home. He didn’t have a stellar mark on limited attempts the next game out — a 99-61 win against Manhattan at home. The fact he was still orchestrating a phenomenal offense didn’t do much to dissuade people.
But maybe what Harris accomplished during an 89-84 win Tuesday in Chicago against No. 16 Kentucky (2-1) will. Maybe that Harris showcased just how prolific he can be shooting the ball, when he feels it’s necessary, will. Because in this Champions Classic matchup, on his way to a career-high 23 points, he shot 7-for-12 from the field, 5-for-6 from behind the arc and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line.
“That was big-boy basketball,” said Harris, a redshirt senior. “That’s always a fight, a dog fight, every time we play them. But they — I think they wanted me to beat them. They left me open. And then I just had to step up and make the shot.”
The majority of those points, those shots, came during a second half that saw Kansas (3-0) mount a comeback after going into halftime down seven points. In fact, the Jayhawks trailed by as much as 14 points with about 16 and a half minutes remaining. Harris needed to be someone who delivered, and he played to a level that had head coach Bill Self praising him as the best player — without question — down the stretch.
The sample size is too small at this point to make any sort of sweeping judgements about what it means for Kansas if Harris keeps shooting the ball and scoring like that. But it does make one think about how, last season, the Jayhawks went 17-1 in the 18 games that saw Harris finish in double figures scoring. And at the very least he’ll make opponents think twice now about giving him so much space.
It’s something that’ll likely mean more room for senior center Hunter Dickinson to work with, too. Against Kentucky, he had a 27-point and 21-rebound double-double that included a career-high in rebounds. It hasn’t taken long for the duo to show fans what’s possible with the two of them out there together.
“He makes it easier for me, (Kevin McCullar Jr.) and KJ (Adams Jr.) because we’re all three playmakers and pass the ball,” Harris said about Dickinson. “And then coach — we have one of the best playbooks in the game. So, we just throw it up to Hunter. He’s the 7-footer, what we needed last year, and he has one of the softest touches in the country. So, just give him the ball. We know he’s going to make something happen. He’s a great passer, too, so he had a great game for us.”
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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 Dajuan Harris Jr. said UK ‘wanted me to beat them’
