Josh Jackson handling major minutes during freshman season at Kansas

If Kansas freshman guard Josh Jackson is able to stay out of foul trouble he figures to play 30-plus minutes in Saturday’s battle against Texas Tech at Allen Fieldhouse.

While extended playing time — he’s logged as many as 35 minutes in two games and 31, 32 and 33 minutes in three others — has been exhilarating for the 6-foot-8, 207-pound McDonald’s All-American, it’s also been a bit taxing.

“It’s kind of hard when you can only play seven or eight guys,” said Jackson. “Everybody is playing about 35 to 40 minutes. We get kind of tired out there. We’ve just got to push through it.

He scored a career-high tying 22 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out six assists while playing 32 minutes in Tuesday’s 90-88 home victory over Kansas State.

“It’s a lot of time,” Jackson said of his minutes versus the Wildcats.

Kansas coach Bill Self — who appreciates a signal from his players when they need a breather — said Jackson, who was playing at Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif., at this time last season, has handled his minutes quite well.

“Josh is probably the guy more than anybody else that asks to come out of the game more, and then he’ll get right back in there,” Self said. “Playing that many minutes as a freshman, I think, would be kind of a body shot to you. But he’s in good shape.”

Jackson considers himself a much improved player from the one who first arrived on the Kansas campus last June.

“My decision-making and my IQ, trying to make the plays at the right time,” Jackson said of areas of growth. “Coming out of high school I never really played on a team that was this talented. I’ve always been on teams I was the first option and second option. Playing with these guys makes me a better teammate I think.”

Over the rest of the season he wants the team “to get better defensively. Personally my free throws can get a lot better. I think those are the two biggest things.”

He also may need to control his emotions better. Jackson has been whistled for technical fouls against Duke, TCU and Kansas State.

“I guess a couple refs are different from others. A couple will give you a ‘tech’ for a lot less than others will,” Jackson said. “What I said to the ref (in Kansas State game) was, ‘That’s a foul.’ Apparently he didn’t like that. A couple plays later two K-State players say the same thing to a different ref and nothing happens. You just have to move on from it.”

On Saturday, the Jayhawks will entertain Texas Tech, a team that enters with a 12-2 record and 1-1 mark in league play. The Red Raiders, led by first-year coach Chris Beard, defeated No. 7 West Virginia 77-76 in overtime on Tuesday in Lubbock, Texas.

“I know the guys on the other side of the court are going to come at us and not let up,” Jackson said. “I know I’ve got to do the same to them. There are some tough teams out there. I feel we are going to get everybody’s best shot just because of our reputation.”

“We have five seniors and six juniors,” said Beard. “We are trying to have a kind of season where each game has its own life.”

Beard was an assistant on Pat Knight’s Texas Tech coaching staff in 2008 when the Jayhawks slammed the Red Raiders 109-51 in Allen Fieldhouse. After that game, Knight said, “I feel like someone put a meat necklace around my neck and just threw me into a lion’s den.”

“That’s one of my top 10 Pat Knight quotes, and I have some good ones,” Beard said. “It’s one of the most special places in college basketball. It’s tradition … it’s a first-class crowd that respects basketball. Coach Self and the players play the game the right way. It has the intensity of a big-time environment. It gets sold out in there but is also a class situation. It’s one of the great places in college basketball.”

This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Josh Jackson handling major minutes during freshman season at Kansas."