Jayhawks rally to beat Mountaineers 71-66 with Self in casual attire

A change in Kansas coach Bill Self’s wardrobe coincided with his team snapping a four-game, four-year losing streak at West Virginia’s WVU Coliseum on Monday night.

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins presented Self with a Jayhawk pullover shirt prior to the game, and Self, copying Huggins, wore the leisure attire instead of coat and tie during the contest — one in which his Jayhawks overcame a 16-point first-half deficit and 13-point halftime margin to win 71-66.

“You should be able to have a little fun coaching. I know Huggs does,” Self said after his 10th-ranked Jayhawks overcame a shot-blocking clinic by Sagaba Konate (16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks) to claim his 200th career coaching victory in Big 12 contests (against 43 losses).

“I have a good relationship with him. We always give each other a hard time. I guess I told him, ‘If you give me something to wear I’ll wear it.’ Sure enough he made me look like I was a NASCAR driver by giving me something,” Self added with a smile.

Self was obviously in a great mood after a game in which his Jayhawks (15-3, 5-1) stormed past the No. 6 Mountaineers (15-3, 4-2) and gained a full-game lead on West Virginia in the Big 12 race and a half-game lead on Texas Tech and Oklahoma.

“We were down 16 the first half, but I think they had us down 12 with 10 left in the second,” Self said. “We grinded. We got some breaks. Obviously 5 for 27 (on three-pointers for West Virginia) isn’t all our defense. But I thought we competed hard. I didn’t think we played great. When you try hard and compete you put yourself in position to maybe make a couple of plays late. Svi (Mykhailiuk, who had 17 points, 12 in the second half) and Devonté (Graham, 16 points and six assists in 40 minutes) I thought made a ton of plays late.”

Graham and Mykhailiuk combined for 20 points in the final 7:53.

KU trailed by 13 points at halftime and nine at 60-51 with 5:49 left (an Esa Ahmad two was changed to a three a few minutes after the hoop). Mykhailiuk hit two threes and Graham one, and it was 60-59 West Virginia at 3:49. Mykhailiuk hit two free throws to give KU a 61-60 lead, and Graham followed with a bucket to make it 63-60 Jayhawks.

West Virginia led 64-63 when Mykhailiuk hit a driving layup and also followed with two free throws at 1:29 to give KU a 67-64 lead. It was 67-66 KU when Mitch Lightfoot scored on a goaltending call to put the Jayhawks up 69-66. A Malik Newman free throw with 13.8 seconds left gave KU a four-point lead and the ultimate victory.

“It’s definitely up there. This definitely was a great road win, one to remember,” Graham said, when asked where this victory ranks in his four-year career.

When pressed, he actually said last year’s home victory over West Virginia, in which KU wiped out a 14-point deficit in the final 3 minutes of an overtime win at Allen Fieldhouse, may have actually been a bit sweeter.

“We had a whole half to come back this time,” Graham said.

Yet, he told his teammates before the game what this one would mean.

“Right before the game, Devonté said, ‘We’ve not won here in our four years.’ He said it was a big game,” noted center Udoka Azubuike, who had 10 points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes.

Azubuike fouled out, but Lightfoot (six points and five rebounds in 11 minutes) and Silvio De Sousa (two points and three boards in 7 minutes) were up to the task coming off the bench.

“Nobody thought we were gonna win. Everybody was skeptical about the game,” Azubuike noted. “Coach said before the game, ‘This is about us, only us. We have to stick together.’ We did. We kept our composure and won the game.”

Lagerald Vick, who was replaced in the starting lineup by Marcus Garrett, scored nine first-half points with three rebounds and two turnovers in 19 minutes coming off the bench. He finished with nine points and three boards in 36 minutes.

“I didn’t think Lagerald was probably as focused in practice yesterday as what I thought we needed everybody to be,” Self said in explaining the move. “I said if you can’t get with it now, we only have 30 minutes (to work on West Virginia’s press, which forced 13 turnovers; the Mountaineers committed 16).

“I said you’re not starting. In times past I think it would have affected him (negatively). I thought it affected him in a positive way,” Self added.

Self liked the performance of 6-foot-9 former IMG Academy forward De Sousa in his second college game.

“Mitch was great. You could throw Silvio in there, too,” Self said. “In 18 minutes they get eight (points) and eight (rebounds). Silvio was not ready to play in the second half of that game (his 7 minutes all were in first half). He had decent minutes the first half. It was a good experience for him.”

Azubuike said he spoke with De Sousa before the game, “about playing like you did in high school, be aggressive.”

Ahmad had 15 points, five rebounds and five turnovers, Jevon Carter had 14 points and four assists, and Daxter Miles had nine points and four assists for West Virginia. KU hit 44.1 percent of its shots — and 8 of 23 threes — to West Virginia’s 40.3 percent shooting.

“I was proud of our guys. We won that by guarding,” Self said.

And the Jayhawks were definitely feeling giddy after such a big victory, enough that senior Graham commented on Self’s attire.

“Coach walked in the locker room and said, ‘Guys don’t laugh at me. This is what I’m wearing tonight.’ It was funny he’d dress like him (Huggins).

“He said if Huggins brought him something he’d wear it,” Graham added with a smile.

KU will next meet Baylor at 5 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

No. 10 KANSAS 71, No. 6 WEST VIRGINIA 66

This story was originally published January 15, 2018 at 10:26 PM with the headline "Jayhawks rally to beat Mountaineers 71-66 with Self in casual attire."