Jayhawks, who remain No. 3 in AP hoops poll, return to court after short holiday break
Kansas’ basketball players, who returned from a four-day Christmas vacation Sunday afternoon, gathered Sunday night for their first workout in advance of Saturday’s KU-Texas game.
“All our guys were back in town at 4 (p.m., Sunday). We started getting after it last night with a 7 o’clock practice,” KU assistant coach Norm Roberts said Monday night while subbing for KU head coach Bill Self on Self’s weekly Hawk Talk radio show.
“Most guys were pretty winded. It’s amazing how out of shape guys can get so quickly,” Roberts said. “Just getting up and down the court we had quite a few guys huffing and puffing.”
Self, who had the players back on the Allen Fieldhouse court Monday night for the second workout of the day, reiterated in a text message to The Star Monday night that all the players made it back safely from a break that started after Tuesday’s 79-65 home win over West Virginia.
“They could have gone to work out, probably in their homes or maybe go for a jog. (But) there’s nothing like playing basketball. We understand that,” Roberts said of the players not being able to get a lot accomplished conditioning-wise during their time in their hometowns, or hometowns of friends.
“The great thing,” Roberts noted, “is we’ve got five or six days here to get our bodies back in shape, get in tune and get our rhythm before we play Texas.”
KU (8-1, 2-0), which remained No. 3 in the Associated Press poll on Monday, will meet No. 8 Texas (7-1, 1-0) at 11 a.m., Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
“The big thing,” Roberts said of the just-completed Christmas vacation, “is a lot of these kids had been here since August. They hadn’t seen their parents and loved ones in a long time. Coach thought it’d be better for them to go home a few days.
“We talked to parents. We sent memos to the parents and text messages. We just told ‘em, ‘Please don’t invite Uncle Bob over if you haven’t seen Uncle Bob or if Uncle Bob hasn’t been tested.’ Make sure our players stay away (from those who haven’t been tested) and mask up,” Roberts added. “Hopefully everybody followed that protocol.”
Braun named Big 12 player of week
Kansas sophomore Christian Braun on Monday was named Big 12 Player of the Week. The award is selected by media members who cover the league.
Braun, a 6-foot-6, 210-pound wing out of Blue Valley Northwest, scored 22 points in KU’s 79-65 win over West Virginia Dec. 22 at Allen Fieldhouse. He hit a career-high tying six threes. He also had a career-high seven assists with four rebounds against the Mountaineers.
“We want him to shoot it every time he has his feet set and an open look, both he and Ochai (Agbaji). Christian was unbelievable,” Roberts said Monday night.
Braun is averaging 11.9 points per game in nine games. He’s made 22 of 51 threes for 43.1%. Agbaji is 24 of 54 from three for 44.4%.
Texas’ game Tuesday called off
The Texas Longhorns (7-1, 1-0) saw their Tuesday game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi called off because of COVID-19 issues involving the Corpus Christi team.
Texas’ last game before the KU game will have been the Longhorns’ 77-74 win over Oklahoma State on Dec. 20 at the Erwin Center in Austin.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is pausing all activities for 14 days due to COVID-19 protocols.
Texas’ original Big 12 opener against Baylor scheduled for Dec. 13 was postponed because of COVID-19 issues involving the No. 2-ranked Bears team.
This story was originally published December 28, 2020 at 7:43 PM with the headline "Jayhawks, who remain No. 3 in AP hoops poll, return to court after short holiday break."
