Weary Kansas Jayhawks return home for Oklahoma State game: ‘They’ve got to be toast’
Kansas’ basketball players exerted a lot of energy in defeating No. 1-ranked Baylor, 64-61, and snapping the Bears’ 23-game winning streak on Saturday in Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.
“They are exhausted,” KU coach Bill Self said of the Jayhawks (24-3, 13-1), who moved into a first-place tie in the Big 12 Conference standings with the Bears (24-2, 13-1) with four games left.
“They’ve got to be toast. Doke (Azubuike) and Marcus (Garrett) and Ochai (Agbaji) and ‘Dot’ (Devon Dotson) … those guys have gotta be toast with as many minutes as they played.”
Azubuike scored 23 points and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds in 36 minutes, while Garrett had nine points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes. Agbaji did not score — he missed five shot attempts — but grabbed five rebounds and dished three assists in 39 minutes. Dotson scored 13 points with three assists and two steals in 36 minutes.
Fatigue could be a concern for the Jayhawks heading into Monday’s game against Oklahoma State (14-13, 4-10). Tipoff is 8 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse. The Cowboys who have won four of their last six games, defeated rival Oklahoma, 83-66, on Saturday in Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater.
“You want guys to enjoy themselves,” Self said of reaction to the the Jayhawks’ huge victory over Baylor, “but we’ve got a game Monday.”
The game is part of ESPN’s Big Monday. The Jayhawks are 31-0 in Big Monday games in Allen Fieldhouse during the 17-year Self era. Overall, KU has won 17 consecutive Big Monday contests.
“To think we’ve been looking up at Baylor all year long,” Self said. KU lost to the Bears, 67-55, on Jan. 11 in Allen Fieldhouse. “We still may be (looking up at Bears) at the end. If we don’t run the table, there’s a good chance they will.”
KU has home games remaining with Oklahoma State and TCU to go with games at Kansas State and Texas Tech. Baylor has home games left with Kansas State and Texas Tech and will travel to TCU and West Virginia.
“The guys have hung in there, hung in there and hung in there. It’s nice to grind and see good things happen,” Self said.
KU basketball news with Jesse Newell
Sign up to get the inside scoop on Kansas Jayhawks basketball from Jesse Newell, and text him back your questions and thoughts on the team and its season.
Sign upKU defeated Oklahoma State, 65-50, on Jan. 27 at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Christian Braun scored 16 points and Isaiah Moss 13 for the Jayhawks. OSU was led by Cameron McGriff, who had 18 points and eight boards.
That was the game in which 6-5 sophomore wing Agbaji scored nine points on 2-of-9 shooting. He hit two threes in seven tries. One of his three-point makes was actually an attempt at a two-handed, 25-foot lob pass to 7-foot center Azubuike.
It went down on the stat sheet as a three-point basket, the ball hitting the back of the rim and plopping through the goal, giving KU a 51-31 lead with 10 1/2 minutes left.
“It was a bad pass,” Agbaji said, referring to one of the 41 threes he’s made (in 120 attempts for 34.2%) his sophomore campaign.
“I threw it and saw it got some air, went up and banked in,” he added of the craziest three-point basket of his KU career.
“I didn’t know what was going on at the time. I got back on defense and I saw Marcus (Garrett) smiling. Once Marcus is smiling … I started laughing.”
Agbaji’s accidental three proved to be one of the highlights of the game, if not the entire season.
“It was a very, very beautiful awful pass,” Self said of the Agbaji three. “Doke was wide open. He (Agbaji) threw it kind of across his body, something we talk about a lot. We caught a break and it went in.”
Azubuike, who had good inside position on McGriff had the ball been delivered on time on target, merely shrugged his shoulders and grinned when Agbaji’s pass sailed over the arms of defender Jonathan Laurent and turned into three points.
“If you do this for 35 years, you’ll have a few things happen. There are very few firsts and only firsts. I’m sure it happened before,” Self said, figuring a pass turning into a basket has occurred more than once in his career.
“We’ve had lucky breaks go our way. We’ve also been unlucky in some ways from things that happen. That wasn’t even close to being a shot attempt,” Self added. “It was a positive pass. Somehow those soft rims ended up letting it go in.”
Agbaji — he averages 10.0 points and 4.3 rebounds a game — said he’s heard some ribbing from his teammates but not much from coach Self.
“Obviously that was one of the worst passes he (Self) has ever seen. (But) that’s how it was going (in that game),,” Agbaji said.
The lob pass has been an effective weapon for the Jayhawks for many years and again this year. Azubuike has 90 dunks in 27 games, many off lobs.
“Something we work on … if Doke is under his defender he’s wide open. It doesn’t matter who is on top of him, who is guarding him. He’s wide open,” Self said.
“It’s like if ‘Dot’ (Dotson) is running even with somebody, he’s ahead. If he turns it on he’s going to beat the guy.”
In looking back to previous seasons, Self said one of KU’s best lob passers was Brady Morningstar.
“Brady would get so many assists playing with Doke. He’d catch it and throw it,” Self said. “It’s such a natural thing to do. In today’s times, not many people have a big guy to work with (in high school/AAU ball). We learn to dribble, put it between our legs and behind our back. You don’t learn to work with a big when you are young.
“Devonté (Graham) wasn’t good at it when he first got here. Frank (Mason) wasn’t (either). By the time he left he’d throw it anywhere and we’d dunk it. If you throw it in the vicinity of the corner of the backboard or in the vicinity it’ll be caught.
“This is easy. Shoot an airball to the corner of the backboard. Few people do it well. That’s an area we can get better at,” Self added.
KU will travel to Kansas State on Saturday for a 12:30 p.m. tipoff in Bramlage Coliseum.
This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 1:11 PM.
