No. 2 Kansas takes control in second half of 78-53 victory over UC Irvine

Kansas coach Bill Self likes to say that the nonconference season is for testing, for teaching, for experimenting and for learning.

If there was something to be learned on Tuesday night, as No. 2 Kansas iced UC Irvine 78-53 with a relentless second-half run, it was this: It takes a leather hide and a steel chin to play basketball for Self. It also takes a certain level of basketball IQ and poise.

This latest Kansas basketball team, which improved to 11-1 and won its 10th straight, is learning how to take a punch. And it appears Self might be ready to stick with the most experienced of the lot, especially in the front court, especially as the Big 12 season looms. This was the most revelatory takeaway after Self spent much of his postgame news conference discussing his front-court rotation, which has been a persistent puzzle for much of the nonconference slate.

On Tuesday night, the Jayhawks faced a UC Irvine team with 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye, 7-foot-2 reserve Ioannis Dimakopoulous and a collection of other big men. The Anteaters spent much of the night in a zone defense, and Self responded by leaning on veterans Hunter Mickelson (11 minutes) and Landen Lucas (15 minutes).

The Jayhawks shook off a sluggish first half, and in Self’s view, looked the best when their veteran big men where on the floor. With Mickelson and Lucas soaking up the minutes alongside senior forward Perry Ellis, that left little playing time for freshman forwards Cheick Diallo (eight minutes) and Carlton Bragg (nine minutes). In some ways, Self said, that's fine.

“We’ve given everybody somewhat of a chance, but there’s no doubt our experience has been better than our young guys,” Self said.

Lucas finished with eight points and four rebounds while Mickelson added six points and two boards. Diallo had six points and two rebounds off the bench; Bragg went scoreless.

“The light’s going to come on eventually; it just hasn’t come on yet,” Self said of his young big guys. “The thing about it is, I want those guys to play. And if you look at our best prospects, they may be our two best prospects in the gym — at age 24 — than anybody else. If you were going to advance it, and say ‘OK, everybody’s at age 24, who’s gonna be your best prospects?’ Those two may be it, but that doesn’t mean that they’re more ready to help you win games today than those other guys.”

For Self and Kansas, it’s an intriguing conundrum. The Jayhawks will open Big 12 play against No. 23 Baylor at 3 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse before facing No. 3 Oklahoma at 8 p.m. Monday. In time, Diallo and Bragg may be ready to bang against the Big 12’s best front courts, Self said, but for now, he feels more comfortable sticking with a blend of Mickelson, Lucas and senior Jamari Traylor alongside Ellis. The calculus, of course, could change with time.

“I want those guys to come around,” Self said of Bragg and Diallo, “because if they do come around and play closer to their ceiling, and learn how to play with the other guys, then I think our team will be really, really good. But I don’t want to say that I’m going to sacrifice losses or put our team at more jeopardy just because of that. You got to win games.”

The Jayhawks spent much of nonconference play winning games, ascending to No. 2 in the polls after an early-season loss to Michigan State in the Champions Classic. With the Spartans’ loss to Iowa on Tuesday night, the Jayhawks could be poised to jump to No. 1 next week if they hold serve against Baylor.

For now, Self is more focused with surviving a grueling Big 12 schedule.

“It’s a monster,” he said.

First, the Jayhawks had to figure out a unique challenge in UC Irvine, which featured Ndiaye, the biggest player in college basketball. Kansas led just 28-26 at halftime, but then settled down after the break. Ellis scored 13 of his 14 points in the second half, and junior guard Frank Mason was his usual pit-bull self, filling up the box score with 13 points, six assists and three steals.

“I don’t think we were attacking like we should have been,” Ellis said. “We needed to start driving the ball."

In the second half, the Jayhawks tried to forget about Ndiaye — or, in other cases, take it right at him. Ellis sparked a 16-2 run with an early bucket, and Kansas was on its way to a 30th straight win at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks put a punctuation mark on a successful nonconference season. Well, save for one more battle to come.

In 31 days, Kansas will complete its nonconference schedule with a much-anticipated showdown against Kentucky in the SEC-Big 12 challenge. The date with John Calipari and another national power looms large, but for the moment, as the calendar turns to 2016, the Jayhawks can close a chapter of their season and prep for a Big 12 title race.

One day earlier, on Monday afternoon, Self had stood inside Allen Fieldhouse and sorted through his team’s nonconference slate. It was not as demanding or grueling as the previous two seasons, and part of that was by design. The Jayhawks had averaged three uncharacteristic nonconference losses in the last two seasons, and Self and his staff set out to pave a smoother ride in November and December.

“I think it did what it needed to do,” Self said. “You go back and look at it, we’ve played a couple teams that haven’t had as good a years as they’ve projected to have.”

The first test came in Chicago at the Champions Classic. The Jayhawks led Michigan State for close to 30 minutes. Kansas unraveled down the stretch, falling 79-73, but the players would turn the disappointment into fuel. Eight days later, they would hoist a trophy at the Maui Invitational, notching victories over UCLA and Vanderbilt in the process.

The run continued with five straight victories at home — including the annual game at Kansas City’s Sprint Center — and a 70-57 decision at San Diego State in the days before Christmas.

“There’s not a lot of teams that have played a better schedule, but it probably hasn’t been as demanding as what it has been in years past,” Self said. “And maybe that will end up being good for us. Maybe it didn’t wear us out as much. I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

For 20 minutes on Tuesday, Self was not thinking about his team’s nonconference schedule. He was focused on how Kansas could adjust to the UC Irvine zone and overcome a mistake-laden first half.

Kansas led just 28-26 at halftime, and to secure that advantage, they needed a 6-2 surge in the final minutes of the first half. With the Anteaters’ front line walling off the rim, the Jayhawks shot just 38.5 percent in the opening 20 minutes, hitting seven of 16 inside the three-point line. The Jayhawks hit just five of 17 from three on the night. In time, though, the Jayhawks had enough offense to seize control, enough experience to carry the day.

In the moments after the game, it was that experience that had Self intrigued. During the nonconference season, he had tried to spread out the minutes, to play everyone. Self said that at times, it felt as though he was hurting his team’s chemistry.

That will change this week, he said. The Big 12 season begins Saturday. The real test begins. Self will play the players that give his team the best chance to win.

“The only thing I can say is hopefully the young guys will end up developing and everything, but I think our experienced guys are playing better right now,” Self said. “I think they make everybody else look better and they’re easier to play with.”

No. 2 KANSAS 78, UC IRVINE 53

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .375, FT .682. Three-Point Goals: 2-15, .133 (Dimakopoulos 2-2, Smith 0-1, Saprykinas 0-1, Rivers 0-1, Martin 0-2, Young 0-2, Nelson 0-6). Blocked Shots: 4 (Ndiaye 2, Galloway, Best). Turnovers: 15 (Ndiaye 3, Dimakopoulos 2, Smith 2, Saprykinas, Best, Galloway, Martin, Young). Steals: 4 (Nelson 3, Dimakopoulos). Technical Fouls: Bench.

TableStyle: SP-bkwideplayersCCI Template: SP-bkwideplayers

Percentages: FG .471, FT .758. Three-Point Goals: 5-17, .294 (Graham 3-7, Ellis 1-1, Vick 1-1, Lucas 0-1, Mason III 0-2, Greene 0-2, Selden Jr. 0-3). Blocked Shots: 2 (Selden Jr., Mickelson). Turnovers: 9 (Selden Jr. 2, Mason III 2, Diallo, Bragg Jr., Mykhailiuk, Ellis, Mickelson). Steals: 9 (Mason III 3, Mickelson 3, Selden Jr., Manning, Lucas). Technical Fouls: None.

Half: Kansas 28-26. Att: 16,300. Officials: Ray Natili, Paul Janssen, Tony Padilla.

AP-WF-12-30-15 0436GMT

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 9:05 PM with the headline "No. 2 Kansas takes control in second half of 78-53 victory over UC Irvine."