Bill Self’s warning as No. 2 KU meets No. 14 TCU: ‘Don’t let one (loss) become two’
Kansas is off to a 1-1 start during a treacherous eight-game stretch of the 2022-23 men’s basketball schedule, one that includes seven of eight contests against ranked teams.
The unranked team happens to be preseason No. 4 Kentucky, which had last year’s national player of the year — big man Oscar Tshiebwe — awaken to score 37 points and grab 24 rebounds in Tuesday’s victory over Georgia.
“The games are harder right now than the (NCAA) Tournament last year,” KU coach Bill Self said.
The Jayhawks (16-2, 5-1), who defeated Texas Southern, Creighton, Providence, Miami, Villanova and North Carolina en route to the 2022 national title, opened the eight-game gauntlet with a 62-60 victory over No. 12 Iowa State last Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse, followed by an 83-82 overtime setback to No. 13 Kansas State on Tuesday in Manhattan.
Next, in order, KU will meet No. 14 TCU at noon Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse; No. 21 Baylor on Monday in Waco, Texas; Kentucky on Jan. 28 in Lexington, Kentucky; K-State on Jan. 31 in Lawrence; Iowa State on Feb. 4 in Ames, Iowa; and No. 7 Texas on Feb. 6 in Lawrence.
“That’s what makes the NCAA Tournament so great. It’s one at a time. Lose one and you are done,” Self said. “We play this gauntlet, ... regular season you live to play another day. Since we’ve been here, we’ve not played this many good teams back-to-back-to-back like we are now.”
Currently, there are three teams tied for first in the Big 12 standings with 5-1 records: KU and K-State (each 16-2 overall) and Iowa State (14-3). Texas is a game back at 4-2, followed by TCU and Baylor (3-3), Oklahoma and Oklahoma State (2-4), West Virginia (1-5) and Texas Tech (0-6).
“It’s a common statement that you would say at any point in time: Don’t let one (loss) become two, or two become three,” Self said of KU needing to avoid a losing streak. “In this league the team that probably doesn’t lose back-to-back will probably be a team that has maybe the best chance of winning, if anybody’s able to do that. So I’m not sure anybody will be able to do that. But that’s certainly an emphasis.”
TCU, which is led by Big 12 preseason player of the year Mike Miles, suffered back-to-back losses to Iowa State and Texas after conference-opening victories over Texas Tech and Baylor. The 14-4 Horned Frogs, who defeated Kansas State 82-68 last Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas, lost their last game at West Virginia 74-65 on Wednesday.
“We lost at their place last year by 10 (74-64 on March 1) then beat them by four points three days later (72-68 in Lawrence in a rescheduled home and home). And they are a lot better this year. They’ve got everybody back,” Self said.
Miles, a 6-2 junior guard, leads the team with a 19.1 scoring average. Emanuel Miller, a 6-7 senior forward, averages 14.6 points and 6.1 boards. The Frogs have a matchup problem for KU in Eddie Lampkin, a 6-11, 265-pound sophomore who averages 7.7 points and 7.0 boards.
“From a standing height standpoint, obviously we’re going to be a little bit of a disadvantage with most big guys we play against, whether it be K State or Oklahoma State or OU or TCU, whoever,” Self said.
“But hopefully KJ’s (Adams, 6-7, 225-pound forward; 11.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg) athleticism can neutralize that — and his quickness. And he’s done a good job, with the exception of foul problems in Manhattan, basically neutralizing other bigs with his quickness and athletic ability. He’s very important to us not to get in foul trouble. And certainly that type of size or girth, I’m sure they’ll try to play to him (Lampkin), especially early in the game.”
TCU leads the country with 21.2 fastbreak points per game.
“TCU has a great team. It will be important we get off to a good start,” KU forward Jalen Wilson said. “Coming out of transition, they are a fast-paced-playing team.”
“They are averaging something like 24 points a game in transition, which is a ridiculously high number,” Self said. ”West Virginia held them to eight (transition points), which is a big reason why they won the game.”
Self has said it’s vital the Jayhawks do not lose any home games in league play, yet he realizes it’s difficult to win in the Big 12 no matter where these games are contested.
“The league is a monster. We all know that. We cant fret too much about this one,” Self said of the loss to K-State. “TCU will be just as hard Saturday. Give credit to K-State. They beat us. We are 5-1 in the league. We won four at the buzzer and lost one at the buzzer. These are going to be the norm and for other teams, too. We’ve got to get better in those situations.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Bill Self’s warning as No. 2 KU meets No. 14 TCU: ‘Don’t let one (loss) become two’."
