KU hoops coach Bill Self changes starting lineup for Saturday’s game vs. Sooners
Kansas Jayhawks guard Johnny Furphy will start Saturday’s game against Oklahoma in place of fellow freshman Elmarko Jackson, who will come off the bench in the 1 p.m. home contest, coach Bill Self revealed Friday.
“There’s nothing major about this. It is not something, ‘Well, this is something that we’re really trying to change the outlook of our team.’ We’re not (doing that) at all,” Self said in explaining his implementation of a different lineup for the first time since the Chaminade game at the Maui Invitational.
“In all honestly, as someone (at Friday media session) pointed out earlier, I think Johnny has been probably been playing more consistently well here of late and certainly (is) looking to be more aggressive.”
Furphy, 6-foot-9 and 202 pounds from Melbourne Australia, averages 5.6 points in 13.4 minutes per game. He scored seven points while playing 18 minutes in Wednesday’s 65-60 loss at UCF, KU’s second defeat of the year against 13 victories. He started the Chaminade game on Nov. 20 in place of KJ Adams, who came off the bench after arriving in Maui a day late following the death of his mother.
Jackson, 6-3 and 195 pounds from Marlton, New Jersey, has started all 15 games this season. He did not take a shot in 22 minutes at UCF. He had two assists and two turnovers. Jackson has averaged 5.4 points a game while playing 23.3 minutes per contest this season.
“Just looking at something different and maybe (it) will be good for Elmarko coming off the bench, kind of watching what’s going on first,” Self said.
The other four starters remain the group of Dajuan Harris, Kevin McCullar, Hunter Dickinson and Adams.
Asked what he wants to see from Jackson in Saturday’s game against No. 9-ranked OU (13-2, 1-1), Self said: “Energy, aggressiveness, athleticism, but that’s what I want when he’s not coming off the bench, too.”
Furphy completed a highlight-reel dunk in transition early on in the loss to UCF.
“I thought the first half the other day he made the play in transition that was about as athletic of anybody we’ve ever had, taking off one foot like that in transition,” Self said. “I don’t remember C.B. (Christian Braun) looking like that as a freshman, but he’s shown flashes. That takes confidence to make that play. He’s shown flashes of shooting the ball with more confidence and looking to shoot the ball.
“I haven’t seen him be a lot different confidence-wise in attacking the basket off the bounce and things like that. He’ll get there; We’re going to start Johnny tomorrow. We’re going to try something different. We’ll see how that goes. Obviously I think he’s playing with more confidence than what he was.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2024 at 3:24 PM with the headline "KU hoops coach Bill Self changes starting lineup for Saturday’s game vs. Sooners."
