KU freshman and BV Northwest grad Christian Braun eager to play UMKC in Sprint Center
Christian Braun is well acquainted with the Sprint Center, which has been occasionally been referred to as “Allen Fieldhouse East” or Kansas basketball’s “home away from home.”
“I’ve been to a lot of games there, but I’ve never played there,” said Braun, KU’s 6-foot-6 freshman guard out of Blue Valley Northwest. “For me it’ll be a cool experience playing in Sprint Center.”
KU, which has won 41 games in Sprint Center against 10 losses, will take on UMKC, a program that’s never played a game in the downtown Kansas City arena, at 4 p.m. Saturday.
KU enters 8-1 and the No. 2-ranked team in the country; UMKC is 5-6.
“I think a lot of family members are going to come to the game. They will all get to see me play,” said Braun, who also sees a lot of family members in Allen Fieldhouse for KU’s home games.
“It’s close to my high school. Hopefully my high school coach (Ed Fritz) will get to come see me play.”
Braun, who has scored 23 points in nine games so far in limited duty his freshman season, played double digit minutes for the third time in nine games Tuesday against Milwaukee.
He had three points, one steal and four rebounds in 15 minutes of a 95-68 victory.
“Last game I think I played better,” said Braun. He scored a season-high 11 points against Monmouth and seven points in a first-round Maui Invitational game against Chaminade.
“It’s not about scoring for me. I think I was comfortable on the defensive end (vs. Milwaukee), communicating and stuff. I think it will come with more game experience.”
Coach Bill Self said Braun has played well his first season at KU.
“Christian is a good athlete. Christian will be terrific. He’s never played in a situation like say some of the Duke freshmen,” Self said. “They had the McDonald’s game, things like that. Give Christian a little time to feel some of that stuff and see how he takes off.
“He is definitely one of our best three-point shooters (5 of 14 so far). He just has not played much, not had the same opportunities as some of the guys yet.”
Self said Braun made a positive impression right from the start of practice.
“Christian Braun is the best loose-ball getter, extra-possession guy we had during the entire months of September and October. Nobody else was close,” Self said. “We’ve not seen it in a game yet. He’s worried, ‘Do I get back?’ He’s worried not to screw up. I think experience will help more than anything.”
Braun concedes that in high school he was known for intangibles.
“I would say that hasn’t come about in games maybe just because I’m hesitating a little bit,” said Braun, who helped BV Northwest win three straight state titles.
“It’s my first experience out on the court. I’ve been a little hesitant. Coach Self will tell you the same. That will come I think with experience. There are a lot of ups and downs. I’ve got to find myself on the basketball court.
“I do think I’ve been doing a better job,” he quickly added. “Last game I ran down a couple balls. That’s what I try to hang my hat on. I think I’m doing better and I think that will come.”
Self noted that he’d like Braun and fellow freshman Tristan Enaruna as well as junior Silvio De Sousa to continue to develop so they can contribute meaningful minutes in Big 12 play.
“I believe we do have to have our young guys play older,” Self said. “That’s not a problem for Devon (Dotson, sophomore) or Ochai (Agbaji, sophomore) for the most part. It is with Christian, Tristan and Silvio. We need them to play older to give us more depth and more production off the bench.”
Braun said KU’s bench players need to produce because the starters “play a lot of minutes. We’ve got to give them a break. It’s kind of our job when we come in to expand the lead. They (opponents) are not supposed to come back on us. We didn’t do a very good job last game (in only outscoring Milwaukee 43-41 the final half after winning the first half 52-27). We didn’t do a good job putting the hammer on ‘em. We’ll do better in the future.”
Braun has bought into doing what his coach asks.
“That’s something I’ve always been really good at,” he said of accepting his role. “I will not always be the most talented kid. It’s been that way my whole life. I always have found little ways to affect the game.”
KU will enter final exam week after the contest. Next game will be a week from Saturday at Villanova. That tip is 11 a.m. at Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. Then the team breaks for Christmas and returns to Lawrence the 26th to start preparing for a 2 p.m. Dec. 29 game at Stanford.
This story was originally published December 13, 2019 at 2:49 PM with the headline "KU freshman and BV Northwest grad Christian Braun eager to play UMKC in Sprint Center."
