Carolina must be prepared for the dangerous Kansas defense.
The Jayhawks defense travels, as they say, and can be tougher away from Allen Fieldhouse. For the Tar Heels, we all remember the 2022 NCAA championship game, which UNC led by 15 points at halftime and lost 72-69 after shooting poorly in the second half.
KU came out aggressively and immediately pushed the Carolina offense away from the basket and in what seemed like no time evened the score. At the Smith Center, the Jayhawks will do the same from the tip to try to take the home team and home crowd out of the game.
This is especially important since star freshman guard Darryn Peterson has suffered some leg cramps that limited his second half minutes in KU’s exhibition win over Louisville and regular season opener over Wisconsin Green Bay, when he scored 23 points in 22 minutes.
Besides the 6-6 Peterson, the 19th-ranked Jayhawks feature 6-10 sophomore center Flory Bidunga, who had 23 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks against Green Bay. In their four-guard starting lineup are seniors Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. and freshman Kohl Rosario, which will be a good matchup for Seth Trimble, Luka Bogavac and Kyan Evans, who also play mostly man-to-man defense. Caleb Wilson is the only match-up advantage for the No. 25 Tar Heels.
Under longtime coach Bill Self, they’ve often ranked among the elite defensive teams in the country. The Jayhawks are generally at or near the top on defense stats in the Big 12 and among the national leaders. They have also regularly held opponents to low point totals and shooting percentages, which reinforces the strength of their defense.
No question, they will be among the best defensive teams UNC will face this season. And this is a Quad 1 game, which the Tar Heels need to win and keep them out of the conversation that dogged them last year.
One way to frame it: the Kansas defense plays harder when its offense struggles — indicating a key foundation of their success. The 2019-20 squad was one of the best defensive teams in program history when the Jayhawks won the Big 12 regular season and finished ranked No. 1 in the country before the NCAA Tournament was cancelled due to COVID.
In 2024-25, Kansas went 11-9 in the Big 12 and 21-13 overall, yet had a scoring defense of under 70 points per game and their opponents’ field goal percentage was under 40 percent and 30 percent from the three-point line. So the Jayhawks will bring their defense to the Dean Dome, for sure. This is not a great Kansas team, which is picked to finish in the middle of the Big 12 standings for the second straight year. UNC is picked to finish third in the ACC.
Both “blue bloods,” the Jayhawks are second in all-time wins (2,415) and the Tar Heels are third (2,395), both behind Kentucky. Kansas leads the all-time series, 7-6.
Featured image via Associated Press/Charlie Riedel
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.
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Art Chansky previews tonight’s marquee matchup between blue bloods UNC and Kansas at the Dean Smith Center.
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