KU Jayhawks to resume ‘grind-it-out’ Big 12 basketball season as West Virginia visits
Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self watched high-scoring, No. 2-ranked Gonzaga erupt for 110 points against BYU in a West Coast Conference game late Thursday night on ESPN2.
“Beautiful,” is how Self described the play of the Bulldogs, adding, “that’s about the most impressive offensive performance I’ve ever seen in college.”
Mark Few’s team prevailed 110-84 after leading 61-49 at halftime. That score after 20 minutes was somewhat similar to the final score of Tuesday’s Big 12 battle between KU and Iowa State at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks needed a late bucket from Dajuan Harris to survive the Cyclones, 62-61.
“I mean they were tuned in and they gave up 49 the first half,” Self said of the Zags. “It’s not because they didn’t guard. It’s because the pace was so fast there’s more possessions. The easier you score sometimes it gets looser on the other end.”
Self’s Jayhawks, who take a 13-2 record, 2-1 in league play into Saturday’s 1 p.m. home game against West Virginia (13-2, 2-1), have averaged a still-robust 81.7 points a game, but just 67.7 points per game in three league contests. WVU averages 69.7 points per overall — 66.7 in league games.
“It’s great to watch,” Self said referring to Gonzaga, “but when they played Texas Tech, they hung 69 (in 69-55 win over Red Raiders). It’s just a different deal. It’s not a knock to anybody. Usually leagues have a personality in how they guard. Like the Big 12 in football. If I’m not mistaken five years ago it was rip and run and air everything out. That’s kind of taken a turn back obviously with the success Baylor and Oklahoma State had (on defense and running ball).”
Of course anything can happen on a given day … but Self makes it sound as if the Big 12 games will be low scoring the entire season.
“Our league has become kind of the grind-it-out league right now. If you are a basketball purist you obviously like it and respect it but it makes the games all hard,” Self said.
He said the Jayhawks, “need to learn to like those (lower scoring) games and get comfortable because I think this league will be better preparation moving forward to the postseason. It’s nice to play teams sometimes who haven’t played you and haven’t seen your stuff. It seems to me those are better flowing games than teams that know you. Try scoring a basket now compared to February when you play everybody twice. It will be twice as hard. Scores are going to continue to go down,” Self predicted.
Bob Huggins’ West Virginia team likes to play pressure defense. Thus Self would like to have several guards available Saturday.
“We probably will need multiple guards to help eliminate their pressure because one guy can’t handle that for 40 minutes,” he said.
KU senior guard Remy Martin, who suffered a knee injury on Dec. 29 against Nevada and hasn’t been 100% since (he’s missed two of the last four games), didn’t practice Thursday and is “still day-to-day, week-to-week or whatever it is,” Self said.
Freshman guard Bobby Pettiford, who missed seven games because of an abdominal strain, returned to play eight minutes against Iowa State.
“He is going full speed,” Self said, “under supervision and watch. So far so good.”
Sophomore guard Joseph Yesufu, who missed the ISU game with a sprained ankle, appears to be ready for Saturday.
“Joe looked good at practice yesterday. He did,” Self said.
Freshman forward Zach Clemence, who missed the ISU game because of a toe injury, is not expected to play, Self said.
Self said senior big man David McCormack, who is healthy but played just 10 minutes against Iowa State and has come off the bench in all three Big 12 games instead of starting — via coaches decision — has looked good at practice.
“David was not good yesterday, he was first-team all-league yesterday,” Self said. “But it was one practice. We have to keep building on that.”
West Virginia will enter the game on a two-game win streak. The Mountaineers beat Oklahoma State, 70-60, on Tuesday and Kansas State, 71-68, on Jan. 8, both in Morgantown. WVU opened Big 12 play with a 74-59 loss on Jan. 1 at Texas.
“We are 13-2. We are playing another team 13-2 tomorrow on CBS. I’m sure ‘Huggs’ feels the same way I do in this regard in that he probably thinks, ‘We are 13-2 and not played our best yet.’ I know I feel the same way,” Self said.
This story was originally published January 14, 2022 at 4:14 PM with the headline "KU Jayhawks to resume ‘grind-it-out’ Big 12 basketball season as West Virginia visits."
