Kansas Jayhawks came out ‘ready to play’ this time against Villanova, Bill Self says
It was obvious from the start that Villanova was not going to bury Kansas early amid an avalanche of threes Saturday as the Wildcats did back in the 2018 Final Four.
“I think that we came out ready to play. And it was a little bit of a reversal — not near to the extent — but a reversal of ‘18 in that we really couldn’t do much wrong there early and we caught a few breaks and built a lead,” KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self said after the Jayhawks rolled to a 19-point first-half lead en route to an 81-65 victory over the Wildcats in a Final Four semifinal at Caesars Superdome.
The win advanced KU into Monday’s national title game against North Carolina, which beat Duke 81-77 in Saturday’s semifinals.
Back in 2018, Nova rolled to a 22-4 lead over the Jayhawks en route to a 95-79 Final Four semifinal victory in San Antonio.
“You knew Villanova would make a run, and we just kind of held on and responded,” Self said Saturday. The Wildcats cut KU’s big lead to six points in the second half. “But I thought we played great. I thought we were disciplined defensively. I thought we stayed down on shot fakes, basically, for 40 minutes. And with the exception of defending the arc, I thought that we just played terrific,” Self added.
Villanova hit 13 of 31 threes Saturday; KU 13 of 24.
The combined 26 three-point field goals broke the previous Final Four record of 25 set by the same two teams in 2018 (Villanova 18, KU 7).
KU senior guard Ochai Agbaji’s six three point field goals in seven attempts (85.7%) set a Final Four record for three-point field goal percentage in a Final Four game. The previous record was 83.3% set by Butler’s Shelvin Mack (5-of-6) against VCU on April 2, 2011.
“I don’t remember us — did we go 13 of 24 maybe against K-State?” Self said recalling a 15-of-24 outing from three in a 102-83 home win over the Wildcats on Feb. 22. “But we just shot it so well. And I think the guys like shooting in this building, to be honest, just because the depth perception doesn’t seem like it’s different, even though it is. And the rims are pretty soft.
“I think that how well we shoot it, in large part, probably depends on Ochai in many ways, because he’s going to take the majority of the threes. And the start he got us off on, I think he just gave everybody else confidence.”
Self acknowledged after the game that this current run might even be extra satisfying because of what happened back in 2020 when a talented KU team was unable to play in the NCAA Tournament. COVID-19 canceled that postseason.
“I think it does have added value to me and the players because there’s no guarantees in this tournament. A lot of times the favorites don’t win, obviously. But in ‘20 we had a team that was equipped to make a run. We were so good defensively. And we had enough scoring. I thought that was probably as prepared a team to do well in the tournament as any we’ve had,” Self said.
“And I think that even though we haven’t really talked about it like this, but these guys really haven’t tasted what the NCAA Tournament is all about, even though we had a great team in ‘20. So I think there’s been added value put on this one because of what we missed out on in ’20.”
The Jayhawks will practice Sunday at the Superdome as they prepare for the NCAA title game.
“Everybody has that (winning it all) mindset. That’s why everybody is saying ‘One more,’ and that’s before (going through) the tunnel (to locker room after the semifinal win). On the court that’s what everybody’s saying, ‘One more.’ So everybody has the same mindset,” Christian Braun said.
This story was originally published April 2, 2022 at 10:18 PM.
