‘A scary team’: Bill Self knows KU has star power but says ‘much nicer to have balance’
.JPG "Kansas coach Bill Self gestures in the second half of a game against Oklahoma, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, in Norman, Okla.")
KU’s offense was perfectly in sync.
The Jayhawks didn’t miss a single shot for nearly nine minutes of the first half against Oklahoma on Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center — in an eventual 78-55 win. In doing so, they turned a four-point deficit at the 10:41 mark into a seven-point lead with 1:45 left in the half.
In that time span, Kansas shot 9-for-9 from the floor. Six KU players (KJ Adams, Dajuan Harris, MJ Rice, Jalen Wilson, Kevin McCullar, Ernest Udeh) scored a basket.
In fact, KU star Wilson didn’t make his first shot until he canned a jumper with 4:14 left in the first half.
Kansas coach Bill Self has challenged his team all season to support Wilson on offense, including just one week ago in Ames, when KU lost 68-53 to Iowa State.
The Jayhawks finally answered Self’s call this week.
Wilson scored a season-low two points against the Texas Longhorns on Monday, but Kansas walked away with an 88-80 win primarily due to the other four starters scoring double-digits.
Wilson bounced back against Oklahoma with a game-leading 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting from the floor. KU’s star forward had plenty of help on Saturday.
Kansas had four players (Wilson, Harris, McCullar, Adams) score double-digit points. The Jayhawks are 8-2 in conference play when at least three players score double-digit points.
Harris scored 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor, while McCullar scored 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting. Adams added 10 points while shooting 5-for-6.
“We saw with our last game J-Will only scored a couple of points, but we came out with a big victory,” KU freshman Gradey Dick said. “That shows when we are all locked in and tuned up, we can be a scary team.”
The telltale sign of a good offensive game for KU is the aggression level of guards McCullar and Harris, especially the latter. Kansas is 19-0 in Harris’ career when he scores double-digit points.
Even as KU started slow on offense, both guards were vigilant in attacking the rim and getting to the free-throw line.
“He took shots and he’s aggressive,” Self said of Harris. “When you play drop coverage on ball screens, you can get to that floater…. For us to be good, he has to score because people are going to say, ‘Beat us with him.’ … Today, he was pretty damn good.”
Heading into the game, Kansas knew OU would sell out to cover Wilson and Dick.
The Sooners did a great job on both players, especially on Dick, limiting him to only eight points on 4-for-5 shooting. OU guards ran Dick off the three-point line, face-guarded him and did everything possible to deny him the ball.
Still, KU took advantage of Oklahoma’s focus on Wilson and Dick at the game’s pivotal juncture.
The Sooners came out with an 8-0 run in the second half to cut KU’s lead to five points.
After a KU timeout, Harris didn’t hesitate and canned the three. OU wouldn’t get any closer than five points the rest of the way.
Overall, Self feels there is a stark difference between when Kansas shares the scoring load and when it relies on just Wilson.
“When Jalen has to carry us and keeps us in games, everybody stops,” Self said. “I think we’re better when there are five guys that are threats. I think Jalen would rather play that way, too.
“It’s nice to have a guy that can take and make a big shot when things are rough and breaking down. It’s much nicer to have a balance.”
Wilson agrees with Self’s assessment. He pointed to Udeh’s eight points off the bench.
“When you look at our team and see how many different guys we got, we showed it against Texas and showed it tonight — different guys can come off the bench and take over the game,” Wilson said. “Every single game, somebody has the opportunity to step in and do that. That’s what makes a great team.”
