Kansas beats Canada again in preparation for World University Games

This felt oh-so-familiar, like a favorite song on repeat, or a mildly entertaining Vine video on loop, the outcome always the same, no matter what. For the second time in four days, Kansas erased a fourth-quarter deficit and dispatched Team Canada in an exhibition basketball game — this time an 87-76 victory on Friday night at Sprint Center in the Jayhawks’ final tuneup before the World University Games.

For the second time in four days, Frank Mason did Frank Mason things, finishing with 15 points, 11 assists and five rebounds. Junior guard Wayne Selden was efficient and effective, scoring a game-high 22 points with 10 rebounds. Incoming freshman forward Carlton Bragg sparked the Jayhawks with two key buckets in the final minutes. And senior forward Perry Ellis was his usual quiet self, nicking Canada for an understated 18 points.

“We need everybody,” said Selden, who appears re-energizes after a sluggish end to his sophomore season.

In the final minute, Mason capped the victory with a perfect alley-oop feed to forward Jamari Traylor. The partisan crowd at Sprint Center erupted, and more chants of “USA! USA!” filled the building.

“We’re getting older now,” Selden said, explaining the decisive fourth-quarter. “We’re starting to learn how to really close out games. We’re starting to learn to take our time and execute and get stops down the stretch.”

Friday marked the 19th day since Kansas convened in Lawrence on June 8 to prepare for the World University Games, which begin next Friday in South Korea. In the first 18 days of practice, the Jayhawks welcomed two freshmen to the program, added two players to the roster for the summer, and edged Team Canada in an exhibition victory on Tuesday night at Sprint Center.

Which meant that Friday’s second exhibition would serve as the final warmup for the real thing. In short, the week was a success, even if it revealed some possible concerns heading into the tournament.

In two days, the Jayhawks’ traveling party will depart for its destination — Gwangju, South Korea — approximately 6,590 miles away from Kansas City’s Sprint Center. The world awaits, or at least 23 other teams from around the globe. The Jayhawks, who are representing the United States, will open the tournament against Turkey at 10 p.m. on July 3.

On Friday, if you just saw the final score — and considering the game wasn’t televised, that might have been the case — you could have thought Kansas controlled the game. That wasn’t quite true.

Canada built a 29-21 lead in the early minutes of the second quarter, drilling two three-pointers during an 8-0 run. The Canada lead would balloon to 35-25 with less than four minutes left in the half, and Kansas coach Bill Self burned a timeout.

At that moment, Ellis, Mason and Selden had combined to score 19 of Kansas’ first 25 points, and the Jayhawks’ depth issues began to surface. This is a team, of course, playing without four of its top nine players — including Svi Mykhailiuk (Ukraine), incoming freshman Cheick Diallo (Mali) and Devonte’ Graham and Brannen Greene (injuries).

“The reality is, we’re not taking five of our players off our team,” Self said, adding transfer Dwight Coleby to the list of players not participating. “I want to go play well over there, and certainly win and those things, but the biggest thing about doing this is to help prepare guys for next year, too.”

This is where the depth question could prove pivotal. During 17 days in South Korea, Kansas will play eight games in less than 10 days. With walk-ons Tyler Self and Evan Manning on the 12-man roster, the Jayhawks will have to survive with 10 scholarship players — including SMU guard Nic Moore and Florida Gulf Coast’s Julian DeBose.

For the moment, Self is still trying to figure out how Kansas will survive the grueling schedule. (“I don’t know,” he said.) It would have been easier, Self said, if Graham hadn’t suffered a quad injury in the weeks leading up to the games. If the Jayhawks had Moore, Mason and Graham, Self would feel comfortable with the guard rotation. Instead, Self will have to rely heavily on Moore and Mason — and lean more on incoming freshman Lagerald Vick, who Self concedes “is not ready.”

“Hopefully they’ll be some games,” Self said, “where we don’t have to play Frank or Nick or Wayne more than 20 minutes.”

Meantime, Self will hope that other players can step up, whether that be Bragg, who was key at crunch time, or senior forward Hunter Mickelson, who had two offensive rebounds and a block during a flurry in the fourth quarter.

“Hunter sparked us,” Self said.

For another night, though, the depth didn’t matter. The Jayhawks rode their veterans, and the result was another step forward, toward the real thing next week.

“It’s going to be hard,” Self said. “If every game is tough, like these last two, then it’ll be real hard.”

This story was originally published June 26, 2015 at 9:39 PM with the headline "Kansas beats Canada again in preparation for World University Games."