KU’s Bill Self not enamored with big men in 30-point rout of Chaminade in Maui
Bill Self watched the exciting conclusion of the Michigan State-Virginia Tech basketball game Monday from the comfort of his Westin Maui hotel room, located just a few feet from the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
“I’ll be honest with you … maybe it was an upset, maybe it wasn’t. I thought Virginia Tech was good,” Self, Kansas’ 17th-year coach said, referring to the unranked (6-0) Hokies, who downed the No. 3-ranked (3-2) Spartans, 71-66, in a Maui Invitational quarterfinal.
“If we’d played like that tonight against Virginia Tech we’d have been in trouble,” Self added after his No. 4-ranked Jayhawks’ 93-63 victory over NCAA Div. II Chaminade at 2,400-seat Lahaina Civic Center, which was packed thanks to about 2,000 KU fans who have congregated in Maui for the 36th annual tourney.
The way it shakes out is … (4-1) KU will meet (4-2) BYU in a 9:30 p.m., Central time, semifinal on Tuesday, immediately following a 7 p.m. game between Virginia Tech and Dayton (4-0).
Michigan State will meet Georgia and UCLA will take on Chaminade in consolation bracket games Tuesday.
“Certainly we’re happy to advance … and what an atmosphere for an opening round game,” Self said, noting KU has “an unbelievable fan base to travel like that. It’s amazing how much support we get. Our fans love coming over here.”
Self was certainly pleased the Jayhawks forced 27 turnovers while committing 14. And he was happy Ochai Agbaji busted a slump with 11 points and guards Isaiah Moss and Devon Dotson went for 13 and 19 tallies respectively on combined 9 of 17 three-point shooting.
But he was a bit dismayed by his team’s big-man situation. Senior center Udoka Azubuike, who played just seven minutes the first half because of foul trouble — he did not take a shot the initial half — rallied to finish with 15 points and seven boards with four turnovers in 19 minutes.
Big man David McCormack had 10 points and two boards in 17 minutes and power forward Silvio De Sousa four points and two boards in 11 minutes.
“Other than Doke, our bigs don’t play big. I don’t know that we can stay playing two bigs much longer to be honest with you because it’s just not very good when they’re both out there,” Self told Greg Gurley on his postgame radio show.
Later, walking to the team bus with a pair of reporters outside the arena, Self further explained the big man situation: “Our guys (assistant coaches) were going, ‘Do you want to put Doke back in?’’’ Self said of Azubuike, who exited at 12:52 of the first half, KU up, 15-7. Azubuike did not return until the start of the second half.
“I said, ‘Guys we’ve got three bigs that we are going to play at the 5. If we’ve got to put Doke back in now that means we’ve only got one big,’’’ Self reflected.
Self said it appeared Azubuike caught a rough break when called for his first foul, which may have been on Agbaji.
“I may be proven wrong when I watch the tape,” Self said. “That’s frustrating for Doke. If you get a real foul you’ve got to come out (with two).”
None of it all really mattered as KU wound up drilling the Silverswords, a team that fell to 8-93 all time at the Maui Invitational.
“Ochai, Isaiah and Dot all shot pretty well the first half to compensate for it,” Self said of guards making up for lack of inside points.
KU wound up hitting 12 of 29 threes to Chaminade’s 7 of 21. Of sophomore guard Agbaji’s 3 of 6 outing from three, Self said: “I thought he played fine. I actually thought he and Dot and Marcus were all pretty good the first half. The second half nobody got in rhythm offensively like those were the first half. Doke got a little better the second half.
“Ochai is a good player, a good scorer. That dunk he made in transition (vicious second half slam) was pretty impressive too. Those plays give you confidence. He seemed to have a lot more tonight.”
KU improved to 4-0 all-time against Chaminade. KU also beat the Silverswords the last time the Jayhawks were in Maui — by 51 points — in 2015.
Maui Invitational update
Dayton drubbed Georgia, 80-61, while Virginia Tech shocked No. 3 Michigan State, 71-66, in the first two games of the day.
Virginia Tech will meet Dayton at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the winners’ bracket.
“I’ve said this for 20 years, upsets happen. That’s no insult to them, but it is an upset,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “I publicly want to apologize to maybe the greatest fan group that was here. We feel like I let them down. It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. We weren’t as sharp today.”
Izzo said he felt great compassion for national player of the year candidate, Cassius Winston, who scored seven points in 26 foul-plagued minutes. Winston’s brother, Zachary, died on Nov. 10.
“It’s sad because for me, because at a tournament like this, I would like all the people in Hawaii and everybody else to see, he was a shell of himself today. I think it’s been a lot on him,” Izzo said. “I couldn’t do what that kid has done, no way. And he just looked tired the whole time. I think the mental stress that he’s going through ... and, because he doesn’t practice as much right now, physically I don’t think he’s in the shape he needs to be in. And I asked him at halftime and he said, ‘You better keep grinding on me, coach, don’t change one thing.’ Well, I got to tell you, that’s hard for me and it’s hard for him.”
Of the unexpected loss, Izzo stated: “Somehow, some way we didn’t spend a lot of time on the beach. I promise you, we will spend no time on the beach tonight, tomorrow or tomorrow night. So we’re going to spend some time in that walkthrough room and we won’t make those mistakes again.”
No distractions in paradise
KU coach Bill Self doesn’t agree with those who say teams face major distractions at the Maui Invitational.
“I actually enjoy taking our team places where they can get away from everything else,” said Self. His Jayhawks are spending a week of their season in Maui, with games Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and the next game on the mainland not until Dec. 7 versus Colorado in Allen Fieldhouse.
“There’s more distractions going to the Garden in New York City to play,” Self added.
That’s where KU fell to Duke, 68-66, on Nov. 5 in the Champions Classic. “When you’ve got Kevin Durant sitting in the first row and you’ve got 58 tickets to go around to your players and you need 71 … who cuts who and all that stuff. There’s a lot more distractions on that. Parents say, ‘No, no, I need this many (tickets),’ and there aren’t that many. Here there won’t be any distractions.”
The Jayhawk players had a day to themselves for sightseeing on Saturday and will again hit the beach on Thanksgiving Day once the tourney is over.
Keys to victory
Self, who has led KU to a Maui Invitational title in 2015, a runner-up finish in 2011 and 1-2 record in 2005, thinks he knows the key to win in Maui.
“I’d say in tournament like this with such short (time between games) I think effort and passion takes precedent over scouting report,” he said.
“Even though we’ll scout and do those things … usually if you are turned up, you can overcome mistakes I’d love to see us be able to go nine-deep and have confidence in those nine because you are not going to win the tournament playing six guys.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 10:02 PM.
