Jayhawks make short trip earned with top seed
Bill Self watched a horde of reporters jostle for position Tuesday in the lobby of the Westin Crown Center Hotel.
“Gosh guys, it’s just a basketball game, geez,” Self said after Kansas’ contingent arrived from Lawrence by bus for the Midwest Regional. KU faces Purdue on Thursday night.
“We’re excited. The guys are in a good frame of mind, (a) little tired to be honest,” Self said, joking that he was ready to take a 30-minute nap after his five-minute media session.
He indicated the Jayhawks “had a pretty good practice, hard practice,” Tuesday prior to boarding the bus for close-to-home KC.
Self gave the players a day off Monday following a pair of first- and second-round victories over UC Davis and Michigan State in Tulsa.
“We (didn’t) get back until late Sunday night (with) just one day off,” Self said. “The reason you’d be a little tired is because you are playing Sunday-Thursday as opposed to Sunday-Friday or Saturday-Friday.”
The traveling parties from Purdue, Oregon and Michigan had many more miles Tuesday.
“We’ll get our bellies full tonight at the Capital Grille (on the Plaza), treat our guys like kings there for at least a couple hours. Then it will be all business tomorrow,” Self said. “We like being in Kansas City. We like exactly where we are at.”
The Jayhawks will practice at an undisclosed location then hold a shootaround from 3:10 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Sprint Center. That shootaround is open to the public.
“I think it’s ingrained in our guys’ minds this is their reward of hard work,” Self said of advancing in the tourney and being in the field of 16. “The real reward of hard work would be winning two more this weekend.”
Self said the Jayhawks had no injuries or illnesses plaguing the team heading into Wednesday’s practice and shootaround.
“Teams sometimes have a tendency to get tired late in the season,” Self said. “Last year it was Frank (Mason) wearing down at the end. I haven’t heard anybody say things like that yet this year. I think our team may be a little stronger and fresher.”
This story was originally published March 21, 2017 at 7:40 PM with the headline "Jayhawks make short trip earned with top seed."