Bill Self had unique interaction with Arizona fans before KU’s blowout loss
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Arizona used two long runs to beat Kansas basketball 84-61 in Tucson.
- Wildcats dominated the glass, outrebounding Kansas 48-26 and controlling inside.
- Bill Self blamed poor shot selection and lack of interior toughness for loss.
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self embarked on an early morning stroll several hours before the Jayhawks’ Big 12 battle against first-place Arizona on Saturday afternoon at 14,688-seat McKale Center.
His attempt at exercise in Tucson was interrupted by some well-meaning Wildcats fans.
“I went on a walk this morning around campus and there’s no telling how many people stopped me to talk ball,” Self, KU’s 23rd-year coach, said after the Jayhawks’ 84-61 blowout loss to a No. 2-ranked U of A team (27-2, 14-2) that clinched at least a share of the conference regular-season title.
“One guy is getting ready to have a (former Arizona, NBA forward) ’Channing Frye wine-tasting deal.’ So send me a bottle,” Self added jokingly after a game in which some KU fans might want to drown their sorrows, so to speak.
“But there were so many people that did that because I think they just love ball here, much like we do,” Self added.
Self obviously was in a more talkative mood in visiting with U of A fans in hoops-crazed Tucson during his morning workout than after KU’s third blowout defeat in the last five games — double-digit losses spanning the last three Saturdays.
No. 14-ranked KU (21-8, 11-5) fell to Iowa State by 18 points on Feb. 14 in Ames, then lost to Cincinnati by 16 points on Feb. 21 at Allen Fieldhouse to go with the 23-point defeat in Tucson. KU also has beaten Houston and Oklahoma State in that span.
“I was here today, unfortunately, and thought it was really a positive atmosphere. I thought the atmosphere was great, and I didn’t think we did a great job of handling the crowd,” Self said.
Arizona’s fans were treated to a pair of impressive runs that spurred the Wildcats to victory over a KU team that downed the then-undefeated, top-ranked Wildcats 82-78 on Feb. 9 in Allen Fieldhouse.
A 19-0 run turned an early 5-2 deficit into a 21-5 Arizona advantage.
Later, a 16-0 run upped a 49-47 U of A lead to 65-47 advantage with 7:51 left. Arizona, which was led by Brayden Burries’ 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, stretched that second run to 27-9, putting the game away at 76-56 with 4:41 remaining.
“Their big guys punked us,” Self said of the likes of Motiejus Krivas, Todd Awaka, Koa Peat and Ivan Kharchenkov, who along with guard Burries helped Arizona outrebound KU 48-26. The Wildcats outrebounded KU 45-41 in their loss in Lawrence.
Bryson Tiller and Flory Bidunga combined for 41 points and 18 rebounds in KU’s win over Arizona in Lawrence. On Saturday, they combined for four points and six rebounds on combined 2-of-11 shooting.
“They punked our guards. They got anywhere they wanted to,” Self added. “Burries was the best player in the game, hands down. We weren’t very good at all, but we kind of hung in there the first half, and even though we weren’t very good, we cut it to two with about 12 minutes left. And then they score on like 15 of the next 17 possessions and dominated us inside.
“Our shot selection was horrendous, horrendous,” Self continued. “The way you come back is the right guy (Darryn Peterson, 24 points, 31 minutes) shooting the ball, and the way you go from two down to 18 down or whatever is when the wrong guys take bad shots. It’s not that complicated, and that’s what happened. And we didn’t guard. We didn’t compete on the glass.”
The Jayhawks, who trailed 39-28 at halftime, did cut an 18-point deficit all the way down to 49-47 with 12:07 left. That’s when Kharchenkov cashed a 3-pointer that had a friendly bounce on the rim before dropping. That bucket started the Wildcats’ 16-0 surge.
“Guys hung in there,” Self said. “We showed some resiliency and toughness in coming back to make it a one possession game. But then after that, when you’ve really got to hunker down ... when you play from behind it takes more energy, and then you’ve got to really grind.”
Of Peterson’s performance — he was 8-for-21 shooting (3-of-8 from 3 and 5-of-5 from the line) after not playing versus Arizona in Lawrence — Self said: “Darryn got going, still didn’t shoot the ball well. He shot 38% for the game. We’re better than that. He took a couple of marginal ones and I thought that other guys really took some marginal ones and didn’t play to their strength. We didn’t play through contact. We shied away from it.”
He continued: “Then on the other end, their big guys just punked us, so that’s the way I saw it. If we play the right way and share the basketball, as opposed to one guy thinking he’s got to get his or whatever ... if we share the basketball and the open man is the go-to-guy, that’s better than trying to force it.”
KU will next meet Arizona State at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Tempe.
This story was originally published February 28, 2026 at 7:49 PM with the headline "Bill Self had unique interaction with Arizona fans before KU’s blowout loss."
