KU newcomers determined to fare better against Emporia State now that ‘jitters are out of the way’

Tyler Self can sympathize with Kansas’ three freshmen basketball players, who had a mild case of stage fright in Tuesday night’s exhibition opener against Washburn.

“The first time I stepped on that court, I was really nervous. I might have even blacked out,” said Self, KU’s fifth-year senior guard from Lawrence, recalling an 88-54 victory over Emporia State on Oct. 30, 2012, in Allen Fieldhouse.

“There are nerves there for the young guys. They’ll get better moving forward. They bring great energy, have passion for the game and all want to be here,” said Self, who scored two points while playing five minutes in a closer-than-expected 92-74 victory over the Ichabods.

KU freshmen Josh Jackson, Mitch Lightfoot and Udoka Azubuike, who combined for 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 fouls Tuesday, say they’re determined to fare better in Sunday’s exhibition finale against Emporia State (7 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse).

“The first-game jitters are out of the way,” said Lightfoot, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward from Gilbert, Ariz. He grabbed seven rebounds in nine minutes, but missed his only two floor shots and went 3-of-9 from the free throw line.

“We (now) know what we are getting into. We are getting settled down with our teammates. Every day we are getting better chemistry. I feel we’ll be able to get into our game, really play to our potential. I think we are going to be fine. It’s just a matter of us calming down,” Lightfoot said.

Jackson, a 6-8 guard from Detroit who entered college as the No. 1-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2016, said the Washburn game was similar to his first in high school, when he also was uptight.

“I think so. I hope so,” Jackson said, asked if his nervousness is a thing of the past.

If Jackson, who had 14 points Tuesday, feels butterflies Sunday, he said he’ll “think about the times I’ll be speaking to Frank (Mason) or Devonté (Graham). Most went through the same thing as freshmen. They told me how to get through it, to not pay attention to it. Just go out and play is what I’ll try to do.”

Azubuike, a 7-foot center from Delta, Nigeria, who scored five points, grabbed one rebound and blocked two shots in his debut, presumably would like to play more than eight minutes against Emporia State.

That’s the amount of time it took for him to pick up five fouls Tuesday.

“If fouling out in eight minutes is not a record, it’s borderline close,” KU coach Bill Self said. “He got a couple tough whistles. It’s a great learning experience in how to move your feet. Fans should be excited about him while understanding he’s real young (17). He should be a high school junior. Imagine where he’d be in two years with his graduating class. He’s green, raw, but a sponge and tries hard every day.”

As far as the other two rookies …

“All it is with Josh is getting comfortable,” Self said. “Mitch is the most active of our big guys. He has to settle down and understand what we are trying to do. He will. I like those three freshmen.”

They won’t have to worry about remembering the playbook Sunday night.

For the second straight exhibition, KU will run no set plays.

“We didn’t show anything (against Washburn) and we won’t the next game (against Emporia State),” Self said, not wanting to assist Indiana in its preparation for Friday’s season-opener in Honolulu.

“We didn’t do anything the other night. I mean we didn’t run one play. All you’ve got to do is get in the right spots and we’ve been working on that for more than a month,” Self said.

He said the Jayhawks, who hit 54.2 percent of their shots, were most effective against Washburn “when we drove downhill and made some individual plays, but I didn’t think our ball movement was good.”

KU hit 18 of 34 free throws.

“For me it was kind of different, my first game jitters,” Lightfoot said. “I’m not a bad free-throw shooter like that. The first time you look up and there’s that many people sitting behind the basket … I’ve never seen that before in my life. I was kind of blindsided by that. But I’ve got to get used to it. I shot a ton of free throws the last two days, even after the game.”

He said he’s worked on his free throws in McCarthy Hall, the players’ dorm that is equipped with a half court on the first floor.

“We actually got two other hoops up in the gym in there. We’ve been in there getting a lot of shots up lately especially after how I was shooting,” Lightfoot said.

This story was originally published November 5, 2016 at 6:29 PM with the headline "KU newcomers determined to fare better against Emporia State now that ‘jitters are out of the way’."