RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Melvin Council Jr. hadn’t hit much of anything from behind the arc this season for No. 19 Kansas. So N.C. State was more than willing to let him keep trying Saturday.
Only, Council responded with a performance that his Hall of Fame coach could only describe as “unbelievable.”
The 6-foot-4 senior had career highs of 36 points and nine made 3s, and the Jayhawks needed every bit of it to hold off the Wolfpack 77-76 in overtime — particularly with freshman star Darryn Peterson exiting late in regulation with lingering hamstring trouble.
“We had one guy that was probably the best performer that I think that I’ve had on the road in my 23 years at Kansas,” coach Bill Self said. “He was unbelievable. Made hard shots. They dared him to shoot, and then when he made a couple, he started looking at a big basket.
“I’m happy for our team, but especially happy for him because he put us on his back tonight.”
Out of nowhere
Council was averaging 10.7 points in his first 10 games with the Jayhawks since transferring from St. Bonaventure, with his season high being a 17-point showing against Tennessee in the third-place game at the Players Era in Las Vegas.
But beyond the scoring, the stunning part of Saturday’s performance was how he did it — by time and time again hitting from 3-point range.
Council had made just 27.3% of his 3-pointers in Division I since leaving the junior-college ranks before the 2023-24 season. That included missing his first 10 3s of the season for Kansas and sitting at 5 of 27 (18.5%) entering Saturday.
The Wolfpack knew that, with first-year coach Will Wade and his staff being heavy into analytics and opting to flat-out leave Council largely unguarded on the wings to start this game. And it was nothing new to Council, who said he had even gotten a pep talk from former KU star Mario Chalmers — who hit the unforgettable 3-pointer to force overtime in the Jayhawks’ 2008 NCAA championship win against Memphis — in recent weeks.
“You know, my scout team will do that to me in practice,” Council said. “My guys and coaches are just telling me just to be confident in your shot and just take it. … (Chalmers) was telling me: ‘Be aggressive, shoot the ball.’”
Getting comfortable
It wasn’t uncommon in the first half to see Council getting the ball on the wing and Wolfpack defenders sagging heavily into the paint, basically a dare to take the shot.
He made his first 3 just 2 1/2 minutes into the game, made another about three minutes later and had four made 3s in the first 15 minutes, matching his career high for any game in the Division I ranks.
Wade said the Wolfpack adjusted their approach to defend him more aggressively. But the damage was done, with Council building confidence on the way to having a game that Wade said would have Council “telling his grandkids about that one.”
“We adjusted after he hit the third 3, but he was in rhythm and got going,” Wade said, adding later: “You look at everything when somebody scores 36 on you.”
Council scored the last 13 points of regulation for Kansas, including three 3s. That proved vital considering Peterson checked out abruptly with 2:15 left in regulation; the top-flight NBA prospect had recently returned from missing seven straight games due to a hamstring strain and Self said afterward Peterson was dealing with tightness.
Council later exploited a soft switch early in overtime to launch a 3 off the dribble — N.C. State’s Tre Holloman had gone under the screen and teammate Darrion Williams tried to recover from near the elbow as Council made the gather — to bury a 3 and push Kansas to a 69-68 lead.
He eventually fed big man Flory Bidunga’s dunk with 51.9 seconds left in OT to put the Jayhawks ahead for good.
Council made 13 of 27 shots for the game, including 9 of 15 3-pointers, to go with seven rebounds and four assists in 43 minutes.
“Man, we have a dog right here with us,” Bidunga said, adding: “That’s a bad man right here, I’m really impressed.”
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