Kansas Jayhawks rally from 15 down and edge UTEP at home to close out regular season
After taking 20 minutes to reflect on Kansas’ narrow, come-from-behind victory against mid-major UTEP, KU coach Bill Self was asked Thursday night if he’s still glad this game last week was added to the tail-end of KU’s 2020-21 regular-season men’s basketball schedule.
“Absolutely,” Self said after the Jayhawks rallied from a 15-point deficit with 13 minutes, 4 seconds left to trip the Miners, 67-62, before 2,500 fans who sat in stunned silence at halftime. At that point, No. 13-ranked KU trailed 34-20 in Allen Fieldhouse, site of Saturday’s 13-point victory over No. 3-ranked Baylor.
“I was (ticked) at my sport administrator about 8 o’clock (when KU lagged by 14),” he joked of schedule-maker Sean Lester, who finalized details for the game. “Post 8:30, I’m glad.”
All’s well that ended well, as David McCormack and Ochai Agbaji — who Self said missed two days of practice this week because of minor injuries he didn’t specify — keyed a 47-point second half that finally overcame UTEP of Conference USA (12-11).
“This was not a tune-up game. It was a real game. It had an NCAA Tournament feel to it, not from the atmosphere, but from the standpoint you labor and you labor, things don’t go well. But it’s a long game. It was good to play through that,” Self added.
McCormack scored 16 points the second half and finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for the game.
Agbaji scored nine points the final half and finished with 19 points and six boards, while Marcus Garrett (11 points, five assists, four steals) at the suggestion of assistant coach Norm Roberts, took over defensively on forward Bryson Williams (23 points, 13 rebounds) during KU’s comeback to help KU (19-8) claim its seventh victory in eight games entering next week’s Big 12 Tournament.
What’s more, the man Self called the player of the game, Dajuan Harris, scored six points with two steals, two rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes. He played 17 minutes the final half.
“That was like a trap game to us,” Harris said of the game added to the schedule to keep KU fresh during what would have been an 11-day layoff between Saturday’s game against Baylor and the Big 12 tourney.
“We had to follow the coaches’ lead and and come out stronger and better from it,” Harris added.
Harris calmly cashed two free throws with 17.5 seconds left to give KU a 66-62 lead. Garrett had put KU ahead by hitting a driving layup with 22 seconds left that busted a 62-62 tie.
“Yeah I’ll make some free throws,” Harris said with a smile when asked if he was happy he was fouled during crunch time.
McCormack agreed with Harris that it could have been looked at as a trap game. McCormack scored eight straight points and cut a nine-point deficit to 55-54 with 5:20 to play.
“It definitely started out as a trap game,” McCormack said, “just not having the right mentality, not being as aggressive. We realized that and were smart enough to flip the switch and make sure it did not have the result of a trap game.
“This game was very important,” the 6-10 junior from Norfolk, Virginia, added. “Not saying we want to play from behind, but this teaches us how to play from behind, to show our competitiveness in close games, how to close the game properly.”
McCormack said the players were not dejected at halftime despite trailing unheralded UTEP by 14 points just five days after a resounding 13-point win over No. 3 Baylor.
“He (Self) said, ‘You guys came out slow. You need to pick it up. You know the position you put yourself in; now you need to take yourself out of that position to win this game. All it takes is heart, mentality and competitive juices.’ That’s what we used to win this game,” McCormack said.
Of the minor injury that had Self hold him out of practice two days since Saturday’s win over Baylor, McCormack said: “I am good. Day in and out, basketball comes with bumps and bruises, especially around this time. I’ll proceed to play as normal.”
Of Agbaji and McCormack’s health, Self said: “They’ve been off to nurse some non-serious things. David’s rhythm was off early. He did some nice things.”
Specifically talking about McCormack, Self added: “He’ll be good to go. I do think now is the time if you are going to rest guys going in the postseason this past week was time to do it.”
This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 9:22 PM.
