If you looked at the box score before tipoff, you probably wouldn’t have circled Melvin Council Jr. as the guy who would save Kansas from a road loss. Coming into Saturday’s clash against NC State, the senior guard was shooting a frigid 18.5% from downtown. He couldn’t buy a bucket from deep all season.
But sports are weird, and sometimes the hoop just starts looking like the ocean. In a game that had everything, Council put the Jayhawks on his back, dropping a career-high 36 points to lead Kansas to a gritty 77-76 victory over the Wolfpack.
The Unlikely “Splash Brother”
Let’s be honest: NC State’s game plan was to let Council shoot. And early on, it looked smart. But then the St. Bonaventure transfer started firing, and he just didn’t stop. He finished 9-of-15 from three-point land. To put that in perspective, he had only made five threes all season before Saturday night.
It wasn’t just stat-padding, either. Every time the Wolfpack threatened to blow the roof off the Lenovo Center, Council had an answer. He hit a massive triple with 50 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, effectively silencing a hostile crowd that was ready to storm the court.
Surviving Without the Star
Things got dicey for Kansas late in the second half. Freshman phenom Darryn Peterson, who had chipped in a solid 17 points, went down with cramps and had to watch the final two minutes of regulation and all of overtime from the bench. The Jayhawks found a way to grind it out. Tre White stepped up with double-digit scoring, and Flory Bidunga provided the go-ahead dunk with under a minute left in OT.
A Heart-Attack Finish
The overtime period wasn’t exactly a clinic in closing out games. Ironically, Council, after looking like prime Steph Curry all night, missed the front end of two one-and-ones late in the extra session, keeping the door wide open for NC State.
The Wolfpack had one final shot with a second left. The ball found Darrion Williams, whose fading three-pointer fell short, allowing Bill Self and the Jayhawks to exhale for the first time in two hours.
What This Means For Kansas
This was the first true road win of the season for Kansas, and it wasn’t pretty. But in college hoops, road wins don’t have to be pretty; they just have to be wins.
Moving forward, if Council can be even half the perimeter threat he was on Saturday, this Kansas offense becomes infinitely more dangerous. The Jayhawks now get a brief breather before closing out non-conference play against Towson, hoping that Peterson’s cramps are just cramps and that Council’s hot hand makes the trip back to Lawrence.
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