KU's Wiggins getting defensive

LAWRENCE — Andrew Wiggins had seen enough.

Late in the second half of Friday’s 88-58 victory over Towson, the Kansas freshman guard turned to coach Bill Self and asked if he could defend 6-foot-8 Jerrelle Benimon, who had made five of his first six shots after halftime.

“We actually put him on the big kid for (three) possessions just to show our big guys that he is guardable,” Self said, “because certainly none of our big guys guarded him worth a flip.”

The next three defensive possessions went like this:

¦ 6:23 left: Benimon tried to drive against Wiggins, had his angle shut down, then attempted a pass into traffic that was stolen by KU’s Joel Embiid.

¦ 5:52 left: Benimon put up a shot-fake from three, had a baseline drive cut off by Wiggins, then a drive to his right blocked off before losing control of the ball and picking it up to pass to a teammate.

¦ 4:28 left: Benimon had a loose-ball rebound bounce into his arms about 18 feet from the basket. Noticing that Wiggins was in a defensive stance in front of him, he didn’t even look to the basket, immediately passing to a teammate.

Wiggins checked out after that, but in those two minutes he had made his point.

“I just wanted to see how I’d do on him,” Wiggins said with a smile. “I think my defense is underrated.”

Perhaps it still is.

This wasn’t the first time in the young season that Wiggins had requested a defensive switch. The 6-foot-8 guard also asked to guard fellow McDonald’s All-American Jabari Parker in KU’s 94-83 victory over Duke on Nov. 12, closing on him so quickly at one point that he forced a rare airball from the Blue Devils’ star.

“I love moments like that, big crowds, big-name people in the gym, all that,” Wiggins said. “I’m confident that we’re going to come out with the win, and we did.”

Without reviewing the game film Friday, Self believed Wiggins had pitched a shutout against Towson; that is, Self believed the man Wiggins was guarding did not score all night.

“What gives people problems is he’s quick enough to pressure the ball, but he’s long enough that he doesn’t have to pressure it real hard, and then it’s hard to go around him because he’s so quick,” Self said. “He could be a lockdown defender in time. Hopefully, it’s not that far away.”

Wiggins also affected Friday’s game in new ways offensively. The freshman — he admits his biggest adjustment in college has been running the floor hard every possession — came away with four offensive rebounds against Towson, which was more than his previous three games combined.

The future lottery pick also was efficient offensively without forcing shots, making 6 of 8 field goals for a team-high 16 points. The Jayhawks were 33 for 55 from the floor and 7 of 16 from 3-point range.

“It just shows how our team is. We play for each other,” Wiggins said. “No one played selfishly. We played unselfish, and that’s why we’re a winning team.”

KU’s passing has been a big reason for its offensive success so far. The Jayhawks rank first nationally in 2-point field-goal percentage according to kenpom.com, making 63.7 percent of their shots inside the arc.

Also of note: 63.6 percent of KU’s field goals have been assisted this year, good for the 16th-best mark nationally.

“When we just play in the flow of the game, no one can stop us,” Wiggins said. “We have too many tools, too many weapons to use.”