By SAM LANCE
LAWRENCE, KS — Kansas headed into the locker room against Arizona State on Wednesday down six and were in danger of losing its second-straight game at Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since 1989. But then senior guard Shakeel Moore overheard someone say in the locker room Kansas simply isn’t losing at home.
“So I said, ‘Yeah, I’m to take some pride right here and go out with some intensity and get some stops,’” Moore recalled. “I just took that to heart and kept reiterating it and went out there and set an example on the defensive end.”
The Jayhawks sure played sound defense in the second half. Arizona State was held to 13 points in the final 20 minutes and shot just 5-of-23 from the field. It was the fewest points Kansas has allowed in a half since allowing nine points in the first half vs. TCU on Feb. 23, 2013. That, in large part, led to Kansas’ dominant 74-55 win.
Moore was a huge catalyst in the defensive effort, grabbing two second-half steals. One led to a dunk of his own, and the other resulted in a slam by junior forward Rylan Griffen. Both were huge momentum plays for the Jayhawks.
“I know that’s what Shak does,” Griffen said. “I played against him. He’s probably done that to my team a few times. That’s the type of plays we need and he knows we need those type of plays. We were missing him for a long stretch of the year, but he’s back now and almost fully healthy and we kind of expect those plays from Shak. We expect more dunks in the near future for sure.” “I don’t think I’ve got on the rim since injury,” Moore added. “And to be able to go out there and do that, it was super exciting.” Moore suffered a stress fracture in his foot in late August and it required surgery. He was in a boot for about a month and still had some lingering soreness at the beginning of the season. Moore was out for the opener against Howard and didn’t play until the Oakland game on Nov. 16. He’s missed more time here and there since then, but has now started the past two games and played 20+ minutes. Moore said before the Arizona State game he’s at about 95% and still feels a little bit of pain after games, but he doesn’t think about the injury while on the court. You can see that in his play. Moore finished Wednesday’s contest with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting to add to the two big steals. He was also +25 in 22 minutes, the highest plus/minus of any Kansas player. “To me, if I was going to pick an MVP of the game, I’d pick Shak just because of the energy he brought,” Bill Self said. “He doesn’t score a ton of points, but he makes plays that to me gives the team confidence and sparks energy as much as anything. I thought those [steals] were huge plays.” The emergence of Moore comes at a key time for Kansas. They have two tough road games coming up against Cincinnati on Saturday and then a top-five Iowa State team on Wednesday, Jan 15. Winning both games would bode well for the Jayhawks’ Big 12 conference regular season title hopes. It seems like the Kansas, who have used five different starting lineups this season, have finally found the man for the job. Follow Sam Lance on Twitter Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram And Like ZAGS on FacebookYou already know 😮💨#PayHeed x @TheShakeelMoore pic.twitter.com/m5N2QN0MpA
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) January 9, 2025
