Eastern Illinois @ Kansas preview
Allen Fieldhouse
Hunter Dickinson plans to resume his torrid start to the season -- and perhaps quiet one very famous critic -- when Kansas hosts Eastern Illinois on Tuesday in Lawrence, Kan.
Dickinson collected 17 points and 20 rebounds in the Jayhawks' 69-60 victory over No. 7 Tennessee on Wednesday in the third-place game of the Maui Invitational in Honolulu. The 7-foot-2, 260-pound transfer from Michigan leads the nation with 12.7 rebounds per game. He leads the Jayhawks in points (21.2) and steals (1.7) per game.
Despite the impressive numbers, Dickinson recently received some unexpected attention after actor Samuel L. Jackson chimed in on Twitter. "Damn, this (Dickinson) flops like he's on a Soccer Pitch!!!" Jackson wrote.
As one might expect, Jackson's post drew plenty of replies.
"If you see all the replies, it's all like Kentucky, Michigan State, Illinois, Marquette ... it's a lot of fan bases coming together to rejoice," Dickinson said Wednesday on Marty Mush's Barstool Roundball Podcast.
"The tweet I was going to tweet out (to Jackson) is, ‘All publicity is good publicity.' You've got to take the good with the bad I guess."
The good has been very good for Kansas (5-1), which also receives strong performances from Kevin McCullar Jr. and KJ Adams Jr. McCullar averages 18.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game this season, while Adams contributes 11.0, 3.5 and 2.5, respectively.
McCullar and Adams had 14 and 13 points, respectively, versus the Volunteers. Adams, it should be noted, flew in with family members to Honolulu for the tournament just days after his mom, Yvonne, died.
"Guys, KJ is playing on fumes," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "KJ's mom just passed. The courage he's shown in playing -- he's totally fatigued, exhausted, hasn't slept. He gave us more than anybody could ever expect he'd give us."
The Jayhawks made 51.9 percent of their shots from the floor against Tennessee, marking the fourth time in six games that the team has shot above 50 percent for a contest.
"It was a great win for us today," Self said. "We struggled last night obviously (73-59 setback to Marquette on Tuesday) and to bounce back in 13 hours to play a team as good as Tennessee and to hang in there under some fairly adverse conditions for some of our players, it was just a terrific thing and one that we'll look back on in February and be very thankful for."
While Kansas has a high-profile matchup against defending national champion UConn looming on Friday, it must keep its focus on Eastern Illinois (3-4).
The Panthers posted their second win in three outings with a convincing 85-39 triumph over Eureka on Saturday in Charleston, Ill. The victory served as the 300th in the head coaching career of Eastern Illinois bench boss Marty Simmons.
Kooper Jacobi collected 16 points and nine rebounds to pace the Panthers, who shot a sizzling 50.7 percent from the floor (34 of 67). Jacobi, who made 7 of 11 shots, is shooting 43.2 percent from the floor for the season while averaging team-best totals in points (11.1) and rebounds (7.4).
Nakyel Shelton is contributing 10.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game for Eastern Illinois, which is 0-4 on the road this season.
--Field Level Media