One of Bill Self’s infamous words returned after Kansas Jayhawks lost to Arizona
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bill Self criticized Kansas for playing soft and losing physical battles at Arizona.
- Arizona outrebounded KU 48-26 and had 16 second-chance points to KU’s 8.
- Kansas needs more toughness to aid postseason push, one player said.
From the onset of Kansas basketball’s loss at Arizona on Saturday, there was something missing from the visitors’ performance.
Arizona stormed to an early lead. The Jayhawks’ energy was visibly different than in past performances.
And their coach called them out postgame.
“I thought they (the Wildcats) were so aggressive,” KU coach Bill Self said after the 84-61 defeat. “I thought we played really soft, to be real honest with you. Foul problems didn’t help, but still we played soft.”
This matchup did not resemble the first meeting, when the Jayhawks handed then-No. 1 Arizona its first loss despite star freshman Darryn Peterson missing the game.
“When we played at our place, obviously home courts make a big difference,” Self continued. “But when we played them at our place, we made them not play great, and we kind of uglied the game up. There was nothing that uglied it up tonight.”
The result?
“You could say for 30 minutes they were fantastic and for 10 minutes we were actually much better,” Self said. “But over the course of the game, physically, they just wore us out. They whipped us.”
The stat sheet backs up Self’s assertion.
Arizona had 48 rebounds to KU’s 26, plus a 14-9 advantage in offensive rebounds. The Wildcats also scored 16 second-chance points to KU’s eight.
KU’s leading rebounder was the 6-foot-6 Peterson. And he only finished with five.
The signs of trouble started early.
KU forward Bryson Tiller picked up two quick fouls in the first half. The Jayhawks tried several players in his absence — smaller guards and even seldom-used reserve center Paul Mbiya — but the team struggled on defense and even more so on the glass.
“(Tiller’s fouls) certainly impacted us,” Self said. “We don’t have the depth, and it forced Tre (White) to play the four and that’s really not what he is. He’s more of a three that can play some four, but much better when the other team plays four guards and they (the Wildcats) obviously don’t play that way. It impacted us.”
Lost amid all of that? Kansas somehow allowed 6-foot-4 Arizona freshman Brayden Burries to grab 12 rebounds. That was a career-high for Burries, who is averaging 4.6 rebounds per game.
The Wildcats also turned some of those defensive boards into transition opportunities, which showed up in the biggest moments of the game.
The Jayhawks cut Arizona’s one-time 18-point lead to two at the 12:07 mark in the second half. Senior guard Melvin Council had scored following a timeout, which put real pressure on the Wildcats.
But Arizona responded with a 16-0 run. Burries and his teammates contributed not just by scoring, but by grabbing rebounds and putting pressure on Kansas’ transition defense.
After the game, Council said that area — transition play — led to the decisive Arizona run.
Luckily for the Jayhawks, there’s a chance to put this game in the rearview mirror. Although KU was officially eliminated from the Big 12 title race, there are still seeding implications for the Big 12 Tournament ahead.
Council and his teammates know they must learn from a game like Saturday’s to ensure a deep postseason run. What will be required moving forward?
“I would say the biggest thing is toughness,” Council said. “We’ve got to keep playing tough. We can’t back down from nobody. We can’t take shortcuts when we’ve got the lead. When we cut the lead down, we’ve got to keep playing.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2026 at 7:32 PM with the headline "One of Bill Self’s infamous words returned after Kansas Jayhawks lost to Arizona."
