Kansas Jayhawks’ Bill Self discusses lineup for upcoming basketball game at Texas Tech
As of Friday morning, Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self planned on using the same starting lineup Saturday at Texas Tech as he did Tuesday in the Jayhawks’ 74-63 victory at Oklahoma State.
“I haven’t really given it that much thought,” Self said Friday, asked if he’d start Mitch Lightfoot for a second straight Big 12 contest at the 5-spot or return to David McCormack, who opened the first 12 games of the season
“We practiced yesterday and kept it exactly the way we started at Oklahoma State. I guess that could change but as of now I’m seeing starting the same guys we did in Stillwater,” Self added.
Tipoff for the game between the No. 6-ranked Jayhawks (12-1, 1-0 Big 12) and No. 25 Red Raiders (10-3, 0-1) is 3 p.m. at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.
McCormack, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound senior from Norfolk, Virginia, scored 17 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds in 23 minutes, coming off the bench versus the Cowboys. Lightfoot, a 6-8, 225-pound senior from Gilbert, Arizona, scored six points with four rebounds and four blocks in 15 minutes.
“I have no idea honestly,” Lightfoot said Friday, asked which player would start. “Either way, me, Dave, Coach are all pretty comfortable doing what’s best for the team.”
Self used just eight players in the Jayhawks’ league opening win at Oklahoma State.
“I would say more by design and game flow,” Self said of the reason he cut the rotation vs. OSU. “We played with one guard a lot. There’s not a huge reason unless somebody gets hurt or in foul trouble to play a third guard.
“I thought Mitch and Dave were both good. If they are both good, they back each other up,” Self added. “Could we have gone 10? Yeah we could have. I didn’t really feel the need. If I had to do it over again I would play KJ (Adams, freshman forward) and put him on (Isaac) Likekele. That would have been something we could have done better, maybe he couldn’t have gotten to 5 feet so many times.”
Injuries, illnesses
Senior guard Remy Martin (swollen knee) did not practice on Thursday. He had seven points and three assists in 25 minutes at OSU. He was expected to practice Friday and be available Saturday.
“His knee was sore, bothering him,” Self said of Martin’s condition after the OSU contest. “I anticipate him going today.”
Martin had said after the OSU game that his knee felt OK during the game.
Meanwhile, Bobby Pettiford is out of COVID protocol and was to attend practice Friday. He’s not participating in drills, however, as he’s out with an abdominal strain.
“He’s around,” Self said of Pettiford. “He’s back. He’s out of quarantine. We did all the proper protocols to make sure he was ready to join everybody.”
Self the the team is “COVID free as of yesterday, so I’m hoping that stays the same. It’s amazing to me how you can go from saying you are fine and two hours later something happens and you are not fine.”
Red Raiders health unknown
Because of COVID issues and injuries, Texas Tech had just seven players available to play in Wednesday’s 51-47 loss at Iowa State. Self likely will not know which Red Raiders are available for Saturday’s game until warmups. Tech in its pregame notes listed the injured Terrence Shannon, Kevin McCullar and Mylik Wilson as game-time decisions for coach Mark Adams’ team.
“We are playing Texas Tech, ‘Hey Mark, who is not going to play for you?’ He’d never tell me and I’d never tell him,” Self said with a smile. “It’d be the medical staffs’ job (of teams) to handle that. The way it’s set up it’s not the medical staffs’ job to tell individuals, it’s the medical staffs’ job to tell where they are as a group, not give names.”
Self said it’s possible KU’s’ game against Tech could be as low scoring as the Iowa State-Tech game.
“I don’t want to make any bold predictions by any means, but first one to 43 won that game the other night,” Self said of ISU’s 51-47 win. “I could see something like that being the case as well. We’re going to have to learn to enjoy it and not feel like we’re stressing over it because it’s going to be a low possession game compared to Oklahoma State or compared to anybody else we play.”
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Kansas Jayhawks’ Bill Self discusses lineup for upcoming basketball game at Texas Tech."
