Flory Bidunga’s play for Kansas basketball didn’t go unnoticed by Houston’s Kelvin Sampson

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LAWRENCE — One of the loudest roars from the crowd Saturday inside Allen Fieldhouse came as Flory Bidunga slammed home an alley-oop dunk in the second half.

Bidunga, a Kansas basketball forward, seemed to take advantage of Houston’s attention on Jayhawks center Hunter Dickinson and made a move without the ball toward the basket. Bidunga caught the lob and dunked the ball to put KU up 52-48. Even Dickinson was fired up, clapping his hands and highlighting Bidunga’s effort as they made their way back on defense.

But while that highlight effort from Bidunga didn’t help lead to a win for then-No. 11 Kansas, as the Jayhawks ended up losing in double overtime 92-86 against then-No. 5 Houston, it wasn’t just those around KU who acknowledged the success he enjoyed against the Cougars. Postgame, Houston coach Kelvin Sampson praised Bidunga. Bidunga, a freshman, finished with 19 points and seven rebounds against a national championship contender.

RELATED: ‘A gut punch’: Kansas basketball looking for answers after shocking double OT defeat to Houston

“He’s a monster,” Sampson said of Bidunga. “He’s really good, tough. … I was impressed watching him on film. I’d seen him in AAU events a lot. Some of the kids that we’d been, that we recruited this year, played on the Adidas circuit with him. So, I saw him play a lot and I think it was one of those games … wherever that Adidas tournament was in Texas. And somebody said — I said, ‘Who is that kid?’ And they said, ‘Well, he’s going to Kansas.’ And I went, ‘Of course he is.’”

Sampson noted he doesn’t know Bidunga, but can tell how great of a kid Bidunga is. Sampson added the fact Bidunga’s on a team with Dickinson makes Bidunga better. Those two playing on the court together can make Kansas (14-5, 5-3 in Big 12) hard to guard, like it was on the aforementioned dunk by Bidunga.

Bidunga wasn’t the only player to step up against Houston (16-3, 8-0 in Big 12) in this Big 12 Conference…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/flory-bidunga-play-kansas-basketball-090546082.html

Author : The Topeka Capital-Journal

Publish date : 2025-01-27 09:05:00

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