Auburn had a three-point plan for attacking Kansas in the NCAA Tournament
Too soon?
It might be a little early for fans of the Kansas men’s basketball team, but Sports Illustrated’s Michael McKnight had a behind-the-scenes look at Auburn ahead of the Tigers’ second-round NCAA Tournament game against Kansas.
There are many great details in the story, including this one: Auburn coach Bruce Pearl’s game plan for the Jayhawks. During a film session, Pearl noted that KU had a losing record in road games and the Jayhawks essentially had a 1:1 turnover-to-assist margin.
The bottom line from Pearl: KU has a young team.
Here is an excerpt from the SI story, which outlined three ways Auburn planned to attack KU (the quotes are from Pearl):
Dedric Lawson, the Jayhawks’ All Big 12 power forward, “is not athletic. Be physical with him, limit his touches, and when he does get it, show him lots of bodies.”
Also: “They will turn it over if we apply ball pressure.” (The Tigers cause turnovers on 25.2% of opponents’ possessions, best in the country.)
Lastly: “They don’t get back in transition,” Pearl says. “Rebound and run,” Pearl says, “that’s our best offense. Get it and go.”
That plan apparently worked, right? Fifth-seeded Auburn rolled to a 26-point halftime lead and routed the fourth-seeded Jayhawks 89-75 in Salt Lake City.
This story was originally published March 27, 2019 at 1:01 PM with the headline "Auburn had a three-point plan for attacking Kansas in the NCAA Tournament."
