Big 12 Conference ‘on solid footing for six’ teams in the Big Dance, Bill Self says
As coach of the Big 12 Conference’s top men’s basketball team, Bill Self is willing to offer an educated guess on how many squads in the 10-school league will receive bids to the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday.
“I would say of course I don’t study it. I don’t know or have insight. (But) if the tournament were to start today, our league is on solid footing for six,” Self, the University of Kansas’ 17th-year hoops coach, said on Monday’s Hawk Talk radio show.
“You don’t know how many upsets there will be or if somebody will steal an at-large bid like Utah State did in the Mountain West (by beating San Diego State in title game). Also if I’m not mistaken there’s one more that happened,” Self added, referring to Bradley (23-11) winning the Missouri Valley Tournament and securing the league’s automatic bid instead of (25-6) Northern Iowa.
“I see six, a solid six,” Self added emphatically.
He’s referring to KU (28-3) and league runnerup team Baylor (26-4) as well as four teams with 9-9 records in regular-season conference play: Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia.
“Texas … the way they played down the stretch,” Self said of the Longhorns (19-12), who had a five-game winning streak snapped by Oklahoma State (17-14), 81-59, on Saturday in Austin, Texas.
“They had a chance to seal it by beating Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State beats ‘em by 20-something,” Self added of the Cowboys, who have won seven of 10 games.
“I’ve heard (negative) talk about Texas Tech. Tech is in. No way they can’t be in. Their metrics are too good,” Self added of the Red Raiders (18-13), who reached the Final Four a year ago after making the Elite Eight in 2018.
“West Virginia (21-10) is in. Oklahoma (19-12) is positively in. If Oklahoma-TCU had gone differently, TCU would be saying, ‘We get in,’” Self said.
The Horned Frogs (16-15) lost to OU 78-76 Saturday at TCU.
“I think if they (Frogs) make a run, make the finals (of this week’s Big 12 tournament) you can make a case for them,” Self said.
Technically, all 10 teams have a chance to make the NCAAs because the winner of Saturday’s Big 12 title game at Kansas City’s Sprint Center will garner the conference’s automatic bid.
On Wednesday, No. 8-seed Oklahoma State will meet No. 9-seed Iowa State at 6 p.m. No. 10-seed Kansas State will tangle with No. 7-seed TCU at 8:30 p.m.
In Thursday’s quarterfinals, No. 4-seed Texas will meet No. 5-seed Texas Tech at 11:30 a.m. No. 1-seed KU will meet either OSU or ISU at 2 p.m. Also Thursday, No. 2-seed Baylor will meet either TCU or K-State at 6 p.m., and No. 3-seed OU will meet No. 6-seed West Virginia at 8:30 p.m.
The winner of Texas Tech/Texas will meet the winner of KU’s game against ISU or OSU at 6 p.m., Friday. The winner of Baylor’s game versus TCU or K-State will meet OU or West Virginia at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
The final game is set for 5 p.m. Saturday.
“We won the league. We had to fight to the end,” Self said.
At 17-1, KU finished two games ahead of runner-up Baylor (15-3).
“You saw how hard those games were to win. The games will be difficult. They always are,” Self said, calling the Big 12 the “best defensive conference in the country.”
Self was asked on his radio show if he was considering sitting players in the Big 12 tournament out of fear of injuries that could be sustained ahead of next week’s NCAAs.
“No,” Self said. “We want our guys to be healthy. The bottom line is it’s not fair to kids to say ‘We’re going to rest you,’ if they can play. They’ve been playing all year. We should be as good (healthy) as we’ve been unless something happens the next two days.”
Self said junior guard Marcus Garrett (sore foot) and senior center Udoka Azubuike (ankle sprain) did not practice Monday.
“Everybody else was able to go,” Self said of Monday’s practice. “We went a long 40 minutes,” he joked. “Half of that was shooting, a situational review of things. We’ll go hard tomorrow (Tuesday).”
He stressed that “no matter what happens this week, you don’t go to something not trying to win. If you play you play to win. The minute the last game is over our focus goes to next week.
“I don’t think we can hurt ourselves much,” Self added of possibly losing a certain No. 1 seed at the Big 12 tourney. “The guys put us in position we have a pretty realistic shot to be a 1-seed, a great shot at being 1 because our resume is pretty good.”
Grant-Foster’s team in national tourney
Kansas basketball signee Tyon Grant-Foster, a 6-7 sophomore wing from Indian Hills Community College in Iowa, scored 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting to help Indian Hills defeat Dawson Community College 92-65 in Thursday’s North Central District Championship game. He hit three three-pointers.
The victory will send Indian Hills (30-3) to the National Junior College Athletic Association Div. I championships starting March 16 in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Former Schlagle High standout Grant-Foster averages a team-leading 16.5 points (on 48.3% shooting) and 6.6 rebounds a game. He has made 52 of 155 threes for 33.5%. Also, he has 52 assists to 82 turnovers with 48 blocks and 34 steals in 31 games.
Towns considering Kansas
Harvard graduate transfer Seth Towns has a list of KU, Virginia, Syracuse, Ohio State, Michigan and Maryland, according to 247sports.com.
The 6-foot-7 wing was Ivy League Player of the Year in 2017-18. He missed the 2018-19 season because of injury and sat out this season after electing to transfer. He is originally from Columbus, Ohio. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining at his transfer destination.
Nets name Jacque Vaughn interim coach
Former KU guard Jacque Vaughn has been named interim coach of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. Vaughn has been with the Nets as assistant coach on Kenny Atkinson’s coaching staff the past four seasons.
It has been said Vaughn has a great relationship with Nets standout Kyrie Irving.
““I’ve always tried to put myself in a position that any player can come to me as an assistant coach,” Vaughn told the New York Post. “Whether that was talking about on-the-court stuff or off-the-court stuff, guys need that. I think it’s a skill to be someone who can listen. It’s a tough skill (to) truly listen, and I’ve tried to do that through my career.”
Vaughn went 58-158 in two-plus seasons as Orlando Magic coach. The Magic were in early stages of rebuilding during Vaughn’s tenure.
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 12:25 PM.
