KU sprints by Oregon State

The watch was supposed to be a gift, a piece of Kansas City for the head basketball coach at Kansas.

Nine days before the Kansas Jayhawks took the floor at the Sprint Center on Saturday night, a Kansas City entrepreneur named Mike Wilson traveled to Lawrence and dropped by Bill Self’s office on the KU campus. He came with a keepsake — a customized wrist watch engineered and crafted by Niall, a local Kansas City company looking to align itself with Self’s successful brand. The watch had a blue dial, a snazzy blue band, and would retail for a little less than $4,000. Self accepted the watch with a smile and posed for a photo.

Well, the watch almost died here on Saturday night.

As No. 2 Kansas trailed Oregon State by 13 points in the first half, as the Jayhawks’ offense looked like a fragmented mess, as the Sprint Center felt more and more like a mausoleum, Self took his frustration out on the watch, punching his left wrist with his right fist and sending the watch flying into pieces.

“It came apart,” Self deadpanned.

But if you saw the video of Self's fist-on-wrist crime, let the record show that by the end of the night, as Self pressed through a doorway in the bowels of the Sprint Center, here was the final tally:

1. One broken (and repaired) watch.

2. One resurgent and thriving backcourt.

3. One entertaining come-from-behind victory in the Jayhawks’ annual trip to the Sprint Center.

With the starting backcourt leading the way, Kansas overcame a sluggish start, erased a 11-point halftime deficit and claimed an 82-67 victory over Oregon State. The performance stretched Kansas’ winning streak to seven games and left Self to contemplate the future of a rotation that included just seven players for most of the second half.

“You saw the best and the worst of the Kansas Jayhawks tonight,” Self said. “That was as bad as we’ve played the first half … but the second half, that’s the best we’ve played.”

The numbers would agree. Junior guard Wayne Selden, who entered the night shooting 59.5 percent from three-point range, continued his torrid pace. He finished with 22 points while drilling 5 of 8 from deep. Frank Mason added 18 points and six assists, while Devonte’ Graham offered a spark (10 points, five assists and three steals) as the Jayhawks jetted past Oregon State during the second half.

"We played with more energy," Selden said.

In the opening 20 minutes, the Jayhawks trailed by as many as 14 points while Oregon State freshman Tres Tinkle caught fire with five three-pointers. In the second half, Self made a slew of small adjustments — the defense began switching all ball screens, for instance. But mostly, the adjustment was a matter of simplification and consolidation. With a week off for final exams — Kansas will be back on the court next Saturday against Montana — Self was content to ride his starting backcourt during the second half. Mason, Graham and Selden played the first 19 minutes of the second half before the walk-ons came on with 1:09 remaining.

“It wasn’t panic, “ Selden said. “It was just fixing what we had to fix. I told Devonte’ and Frank at halftime: We had to fix it, because the team goes as we go.”

The streamlined rotation meant no Brannen Greene or Svi Mykhailiuk. It also meant a frontcourt mix with no Jamari Traylor, Landen Lucas or Cheick Diallo. As the Jayhawks surged, Self went with Perry Ellis, Hunter Mickelson and freshman Carlton Bragg.

“The second half, I planned on playing everybody again,” Self said. “But when we got on a roll, and got going good, guys said they weren’t tired. I didn’t see any reason to sub.”

In the moments after the game, Self was hopeful the performance would serve as a message to his team — especially its bench.

“Depth is great,” Self said. “And you’d much rather have depth than not have depth. But you know, we went to the national championship game and we played seven guys at the most.”

From a statistical sense, there was little question the second half was Kansas’ finest 20-minute stretch of the season. The Jayhawks averaged 1.46 points per possession during the second half, outscoring the Beavers 54-28 on the scoreboard and piecing together a beautiful blend of free-flowing basketball. Graham was a menace on defense, picking off three steals. Mason controlled the tempo, continually slicing through the Oregon State defense. In 20 minutes of basketball, the Jayhawks shot 65.6 percent from the floor, hit 5 of 9 from three and had just two turnovers.

“That was a hell of a deal we were facing the second half,” Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said.

Of course, it took close to 20 minutes for Kansas to find its footing on Saturday. The Jayhawks hit just three of their first 10 shots and shot 37.5 percent in the first half. Once again, the Jayhawks' low-post offense was missing, and Self shuffled big men in and out, looking for a spark.

“We came out flat,” Graham said.

The lack of energy manifested itself in a lack of easy looks and open shots. Entering Saturday night, the Jayhawks were the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the country, drilling 47.2 percent from behind the arc. In the opening 20 minutes, they took just seven threes and connected on two of them.

As Kansas’ offense worked for a semblance of cohesion, the Beavers rode the playmaking of Gary Payton II and the hot shooting of Tinkle, the coach’s son. Tinkle drilled his first five three-pointers and Payton converted a flying, left-handed slam on top of Diallo.

When the first half was over, the Beavers led 39-28, and Self’s left wrist was naked. When the night was over, the watch once again adorned Self's wrist. A screw of some sort had been fixed, Self said. The Jayhawks regrouped, and Kansas had 20 minutes of hard evidence: When this backcourt is playing well, the Jayhawks can be a blistering offensive machine.

“In the second half, that’s the best the ball has moved,” Self said. “And that’s the hardest we’ve drove it. And it seemed like, to me, we were one step ahead of them.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 9:41 PM with the headline "KU sprints by Oregon State."