Cunliffe set for debut at NU: ‘I’m hopeful he can bring an element of toughness’

Bill Self cautions fans to have realistic expectations for transfer guard Sam Cunliffe, who makes his Kansas basketball debut Saturday night at Nebraska.

“I love Sam and want him to contribute. Anybody who believes now he can step in and be more productive than the five guards we have, I think (that) would be a little tough for him,” said Self, KU’s 15th-year coach.

“He’s going to go through some stuff to get comfortable. I’m believing he’ll be a nice asset for us. I’m hopeful he can bring an element of toughness to our team.”

Cunliffe gives No. 13-ranked Kansas, 7-2, an eighth available scholarship player for Saturday’s 7 p.m. contest against the Cornhuskers, 7-4, at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb. The 6-foot-6, 200-pound redshirt sophomore from Seattle averaged 9.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 10 games for Arizona State during his freshman season. He left ASU for KU at the semester break of the 2016-17 school year.

“I do think Sam is one of our better rebounders,” Self said. “Defensively I don’t think he’s near there yet, but he is a good rebounder. He goes after the ball. He’s a good athlete.

“Hopefully he can give us a few minutes each half. I’m hopeful he can give us five to 10 (minutes a game). That’d be a bonus. If he’s playing well, maybe more than that. To get Svi (Mykhailiuk), Lagerald (Vick), Devonté (Graham), to get their minutes down, may bode well for us, especially in late-game situations.”

Cunliffe, who averaged 21.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists a game his senior year at Seattle’s Rainier Beach High, is not thinking offense first as he gears for his KU debut in an actual regular-season game. He averaged 3.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in KU’s four exhibition victories last August in Italy.

“Defense, rebounding, shooting, getting out on the break for sure,” Cunliffe said when asked what he figures to provide the team immediately. “Making plays, sprinting out ahead of everybody, taking open shots, not letting my man catch the ball, things like that.

“We don’t have a lot of guys, (so) I feel there’s times in the game guys get really tired. They may not be able to put as much pressure on their man or the ball or spring ahead and put pressure on defense. I feel if I was out there I could do some of those little things. Sometimes guys get tired and miss shots. I think I’ll be able to come in and take slack off Devonté by doing some of those little things. I’m most excited about being able to get out there and put pressure on the offense of the other team.”

Cunliffe considers himself well-equipped to play major college-caliber defense because of the work he’s put in during practice competing for KU’s scout team the past two semesters. He was able to practice but not play in games, in accordance with NCAA transfer rules.

“Now I’m playing with the starters more,” he said. “Every day before that I would try my best to go against Lagerald for sure. That was my go-to. When you go against Lagerald, you can’t really take any plays off. We are kind of the same — fast, quick, can jump.”

Cunliffe said he feels a sense of urgency in the locker room as the Jayhawks try to halt a two-game losing streak. KU last lost three straight in 2012-13 (Oklahoma State, TCU and Oklahoma). KU last lost three straight nonconference games in 1982-83 (Kentucky, Ohio State, Oral Roberts).

“I can feel that for sure,” Cunliffe said. “We’ve practiced really hard the last two days, harder than we have recently. I feel before he (Self) was trying to save bodies, make sure guys are not tired. He is trying to make sure we are ready, honestly.”

Cunliffe thinks he’s ready for prime time.

“I feel being on the road might make it a little easier (personally),” he said. “If it was here (at KU), there would be 17,000 people saying, ‘What is he gonna do?’ They are still going to do that anyway. It’ll be on TV. You just feel it a little more (at home). Either way it’ll be a great experience. I remember I came on my visit last year and watched that first game, K-State, I was, ‘Geez I get to play in this.’ Playing on the road … I’ve always liked playing on the road.”

Self says the Jayhawks need to bring their A-game against an NU team that has defeated Minnesota (78-68), ranked 14th at the time, and Boston College (71-62) in Lincoln. Boston College knocked off then-No. 1 Duke.

“I expect a very tough game,” Self said. “They’re good enough to beat Minnesota by double figures. They are plenty good enough to handle us if we don’t play a really good game. We could play a good game and still get beat.

“Nebraska is going to be like a lot of teams in our league. You better play well to win. I certainly think that will be the case up there. They will be playing in front of 15,000 in a pretty new arena (opened in 2013-14 season) that’s juiced as opposed to the opposite at our place (last year when KU beat NU, 89-72).”

Nebraska on Saturday will honor players from the 1957-58 team that knocked off the Wilt Chamberlain-led Jayhawks 43-41 in Lincoln 60 years ago. Also, at the conclusion of the KU-NU game, the scoreboard will cut to the Nebraska-Florida NCAA title volleyball match in Kansas City.

The Jayhawks return home to meet Omaha at 6 p.m. Monday at Allen Fieldhouse.

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Cunliffe set for debut at NU: ‘I’m hopeful he can bring an element of toughness’."