KU Jayhawks’ Jalen Wilson coming off 20-point game but Bill Self isn’t totally pleased
Kansas forward Jalen Wilson made three three-point shots Saturday at Texas Tech, which was one more than he’d swished in his previous 10 games combined.
“It was good to see the ball go in the basket for him. That will help us moving forward,” KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self said, asked about one of the bright spots for KU in the Jayhawks’ 75-67 road loss to the Red Raiders. “I thought offensively he played pretty well.
“I’m happy for him making shots, not happy the way he rebounded the ball. He backed out of several rebounds that were key. He shot well from the perimeter, did some good things. Basketball is not just about (scoring) … I’d much rather have Jalen Wilson at Oklahoma State than Jalen (at Texas Tech) because he rebounded the ball well at Oklahoma State.”
Wilson — he scored two points and grabbed a career-high tying 15 rebounds in Tuesday’s 74-63 win at Oklahoma State — scored a season-high 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting (3-of-5 from three) with two boards and four turnovers (no assists) in the loss at Tech.
He’s now made 5 of 28 (17.9%) shots from beyond the arc on the season heading into Tuesday’s game against Iowa State. Tipoff for the contest between the No. 9-ranked Jayhawks (12-2, 1-1 Big 12) and No. 15 Cyclones (13-2, 1-2) is 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse with a livestream on ESPN+.
“I mean it’s always good (to score), but when you lose it kind of drains the energy out of you. It doesn’t mean anything at all,” Wilson said. He was 5-of-6 from the free throw line after entering the game 7-of-18. He’s upped his field goal percentage to 40.8% and free throw percentage to 50% entering the ISU game.
Wilson, a 6-8, 215-pound redshirt sophomore from Denton, Texas, said the major difference in his offensive game Saturday was “not trying to force anything, trying to get Ochai, C.B. (Christian Braun) going, guys like that. When we all get clicking it’s hard to play with us. That’s when the energy starts coming.”
Wilson said confidence has not been a problem during his slow start (on offense) to the season.
“I know what they (coaches, teammates, family members) believe in. I know what I believe in,” Wilson said. “We’ve got to get the other half of the ball going. If we focus on defense we’ll be good. Offense always will be there for us. Our defense has got to be better.”
KU on Tuesday will face an ISU team that is off to a 1-2 start in league play after opening the nonconference season 12-0. ISU lost to Oklahoma, 79-66, on Saturday in Norman after squandering an 11-point second-half lead.
There’s the possibility Wilson could play the 5 position some against Iowa State, Self acknowledged Monday, considering ISU’s forwards Tristan Enaruna and George Conditt are the tallest players in the ISU starting lineup at 6-8 and 6-9 respectively. Enaruna, a transfer from KU, averages 6.8 points and 4.2 boards.
“We didn’t do it much but we did it the last six, seven minutes (of Tech game),” Self said of playing five guards due to the ineffectiveness of David McCormack and Mitch Lightfoot. “I do think there is a possibility we could do that more. That’s not how I envisioned it going (this year).”
Self said he liked the five guard look a year ago.
“Because ‘J. Will’ was the guy, but he hasn’t really gotten into a flow yet, at least offensively, until Saturday,” Self said. “Maybe I’ll like it more moving forward now that he saw the lid come off the basket.”
Injury, health updates
Self said assistant coach Norm Roberts would miss his second straight game. Self said Roberts tested positive for COVID after the Jayhawks returned from Texas Tech on Saturday night. He tested negative in Lubbock but was not feeling well prior to tip on Saturday thus did not attend the game.
“He obviously missed the game. He tested positive when we got back to Lawrence. Thank goodness he was not around anybody and isolated. He will miss tomorrow’s game as well. Hopefully he’ll be back later in the week,” Self said.
Self said senior guard Remy Martin (sore knee) practiced on Sunday.
“I think it’ll get to where he feels well,” Self said of Martin. “He played the other day. He’s practicing. I don’t know he’s quite where he needs to be. He’ll get there.”
Self said freshman Bobby Pettiford, who has missed the last seven games with an abdominal strain, “could work back in pretty soon.” Pettiford practiced “full speed for a short amount of time (Sunday),” Self said.
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 3:55 PM with the headline "KU Jayhawks’ Jalen Wilson coming off 20-point game but Bill Self isn’t totally pleased."
