Kansas Jayhawks drop exhibition finale to Bahamian National Team 87-81

The Kansas Jayhawks couldn’t complete a sweep of their Puerto Rico exhibition trip on Monday, dropping the finale of their three-game set 87-81 to the Bahamian National Team.

KU wraps up the trip with a 2-1 record and a split in two games against the team from the Bahamas. Monday’s game was the Jayhawks’ first exhibition loss since falling to a French professional team in Paris back in 2012.

Senior guard Dajuan Harris had his biggest scoring game of the trip on Monday, tallying 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting, although he had his lowest assist total of the three games with just two in the loss. Senior guard Kevin McCullar had a game-high seven assists to go along with his 19 points and eight rebounds, though he shot just 1-of-6 from three-point range in the losing effort. Seniors Hunter Dickinson and Nick Timberlake were KU’s other double-figure scorers, adding 16 and 13 points, respectively.

Kansas didn’t have Arterio Morris available in the loss due to a bruise on his right knee.

The Bahamian National Team was led by Buddy Hield, with the former Oklahoma Sooners star and current Indiana Pacer scoring a team-high 19 points. Another current NBA player, Eric Gordon, had 12 points in the win.

Dickinson was the Jayhawks’ leading scorer during the Puerto Rico trip, averaging 19 points per game along with seven rebounds per contest. Other double-digit scoring averages for KU during the trip include 13.7 points per game for McCullar, 13.5 in two games for Morris, 13 for junior forward K.J. Adams and 10.7 for freshman guard Elmarko Jackson.

While the trip to Puerto Rico is over, there will be one more exhibition game for the Jayhawks this year. That will be on Wednesday, Nov. 1 when KU hosts the Fort Hays State Tigers at Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas will then open the regular season five days later at home against the North Carolina Central Eagles.