No. 4 Kansas experiments in final exhibition game, beats Fort Hays State 95-59

Lagerald Vick swooped in from the wing inside and sprung from the Allen Fieldhouse hardwood, his go-gadget set of arms reaching skyward and waiting for the arrival of a spinning orange sphere. For a moment, Vick appeared to pause in mid flight, waiting for an alley-oop pass from guard Frank Mason.

One … two … three.

Finally, the delivery arrived, player and basketball meeting at the rim. Allen Fieldhouse awoke from a mild slumber in the final minutes of the first half, and Kansas had a signature moment in a 95-59 exhibition victory over Fort Hays State on Tuesday night, the Jayhawks’ final tuneup before the regular season opener on Friday night.

If you took a zoomed-in photograph of this moment, you saw one thing: Mason, a junior guard, finding Vick, a freshman swingman, in transition for a thunderous alley-oop. But if you zoomed-out, taking in the full panoramic view, you saw something even more interesting. There was junior Perry Ellis, watching the play from the wing as the Jayhawks’ three-man. There were forwards Hunter Mickelson and Landen Lucas, manning the paint in a lineup with three big guys.

“We were able to experiment some,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

Self promised this look earlier in the week, saying he wanted to test out a lineup with Ellis, the Jayhawks’ All-Big 12 power forward, seeing time on the perimeter. But with Ellis playing alongside Mason and Vick in the backcourt, the picture was still a bit jarring to the senses. It also wasn’t the only experimentation on this night. In the last 40 minutes of exhibition prep before the real show begins, Self spent most of Tuesday night inspecting roster machinations and sorting through some varied defensive looks.

Moments after the Jayhawks went big, Self utilized a lineup with junior guard Wayne Selden at point and Vick and sophomore Svi Mykhailiuk on the wing. A few minutes later, Kansas flashed a trapping zone press, forcing Fort Hays into a flurry of turnovers. As Self tinkered and evaluated, the Jayhawks shuttled in and out. It was not always smooth or seamless, but after a sluggish performance in an exhibition opener against Pitt State, perhaps it was a necessary means to an end.

“We were better than we were the other night, that’s for sure,” Self said. “I thought we played faster, played with more energy, shared the ball better. We were just so dead, I thought, after watching tape the other night. And I thought we looked more athletic tonight.”

By the end, Ellis had finished with 16 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes. Mason tormented Fort Hays State with 14 points and six assists. And Mykhailiuk shook off a poor shooting night in the exhibition opener and buried 5 of 8 from behind the three-point line, a solid audition in the days before the season begins.

“In practice, he’s making shots like that,” Selden said. “And he has the green light.”

On a night where the result was mere formality, the performance of Mykhailiuk offered a reason for November optimism. A 6-foot-8 guard with a feathery jumper, Mykhailiuk came to Kansas last year as a teenage phenom with a rep as a shooter. Only it didn’t quite play out that way. In limited playing time, Mykhailiuk shot just 29 percent from three-point range. As a 17-year-old freshman, he never found a consistent stroke.

On most days, Self likes to say that a player’s performance should never be correlated with just making shots. But in the case of Mykhailiuk and junior wing Brannen Greene, who missed Tuesday’s game with a hip ailment, Self is clear: The Jayhawks need them to be outside threats.

“The reality of it, that will be their role, to come in and make shots,” Self said, before adding: “We got to have at least one of those guys, and hopefully both, be instant offense off the bench for us.”

Greene wasn’t the only missing piece Tuesday. For a second straight game, the Jayhawks played without freshman forward Cheick Diallo, who is awaiting his fate from the NCAA Eligibility Center. On Monday, his legal guardian in the United States, Tidian Drame, hired an attorney, and a legal fight could be looming. Midway through the second half on Tuesday, the Allen Fieldhouse student section went public with their displeasure, breaking into a “Free Diallo” chant, which reverberated through the old building’s rafters. At the end of the Kansas bench, former KU point guard Aaron Miles, now a member of the staff, looked over at Diallo and smiled.

“We’re frustrated,” Self said after the game. “We fought our butts off” for Diallo.

One day earlier, Self had foreshadowed the experimental nature of Tuesday’s contest. In the days after his team’s exhibition victory over Pittsburg State last week, Self was incensed by his team’s perimeter defense. The Jayhawks, Self groused, had been exposed by dribble penetration all night, and Self pointed the finger at his wings.

“Ridiculous,” he said.

In response, Self said he was considering using Ellis at the wing and doing something he has rarely done during his Kansas tenure: Play a lineup with three traditional bigs. In some ways, perhaps Self just wanted to send a message to Selden and the rest of his wings. Ellis did log some minutes at the wing on Tuesday, but it was relegated to a three-minute stretch late in the first half. It appeared that Selden, who finished with 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting, got the message.

“We just weren’t really into last game,” Selden said. “Even just watching the film, like myself in general — I just looked at myself and was probably pretty disgusted with how we looked as a team, too.”

On Tuesday, the picture was better. Now the Jayhawks can look forward, to the season opener against Northern Colorado on Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse, to a date with Michigan State at the Champions Classic on Tuesday night in Chicago. When the Jayhawks take the floor at the United Center, a marquee matchup in the Windy City, some of these experiments will be a thing of the past. Self will find a rotation he likes — or at least a semblance of one — and he will ride his veterans.

On Tuesday, though, Self could afford to stretch his rotation and go to his walk-ons in the final minutes. In a matter of days, the real thing begins.

“I wish we had a few more days,” Self said, echoing a forever sentiment. “But everybody starts now, so every is playing with the same deck of cards.”

KANSAS 95

FORT HAYS STATE 59, exh.

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .323, FT .769. Three-Point Goals: 57-26, .269 (O’Neil 2-3, Samac 1-3, C. Nicholson 1-3, Davis 1-3, Enoch 1-4, Sabic 1-4, A. Nicholson 0-1, Gillum 0-1, Kinnamon 0-2, Holmes 0-2). Blocked Shots: None). Turnovers: 18 (Davis 5, Kinnamon 5, Samac 2, C. Nicholson, Enoch, Sabic, Gillum, Werth, team). Steals: 10 (O’Neil 3, Kite 2, C. Nicholson, Sabic, Gillum, Kinnamon, Werth). Fouled Out: None.

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .604, FT .724. Three-Point Goals: 10-21, .476 (Mykhailiuk 5-8. Bragg Jr. 1-1, Ellis 1-2, Mason III 1-2, Graham 1-2, Selden Jr. 1-3, Self 0-1, Vick 0-2). Blocked Shots: 8 (Mickelson 3, Ellis 2, Traylor, Bragg Jr., Lucas). Turnovers: 18 (Bragg Jr. 4, Graham 3, Vick 3, Traylor 2, Ellis 2, Selden Jr. 2, Mickelson 2). Steals: 9 (Mason III 2, Selden Jr. 2, Vick 2, Traylor, Ellis, Graham). Fouled Out: None.

Half: Kansas 45-29. Att: 16,300. Officials: x.

This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 9:17 PM with the headline "No. 4 Kansas experiments in final exhibition game, beats Fort Hays State 95-59."