What KU’s Bill Self & Marquette’s Shaka Smart said about their skirmish in Maui game
Shaka Smart, coach of the victorious Marquette Golden Eagles, had much more to say about the “dust-up” that occurred in the first half of No. 4-ranked Marquette’s 73-59 Maui Invitational semifinal victory over No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday at Stan Sheriff Center than his coaching counterpart, Bill Self.
According to former VCU and Texas coach Smart, KU senior guard Kevin McCullar trash-talked to Smart after hitting a 3 with 3:19 left in the first half — a 3 that cut MU’s lead to 33-28.
“So Kevin McCullar is one of the best competitors I’ve coached against in a long time,” Smart said after a win that pushed the Golden Eagles into Wednesday’s 4 p.m. Central final against No. 1 Purdue. KU’s third-place game vs. Tennessee was set for 1:30 p.m. Central on Wednesday.
“He played at Texas Tech and he always has brought an edge that is different. He’s always enjoyed having a dialogue with me. He probably does that with all coaches. That kind of started the little dust-up. Their bench got involved. Our bench got involved. At the end of the day it really had very little to do with the game.”
Jayhawk coach Self scoffed when asked his own version of what happened to lead to words between Self and Smart and words between players on both teams. No pushing, no shoving, just angry words from both sides prior to the end of the first half. Each bench received a technical foul.
“I doubt it was accurate just so you know,” Self said of Smart’s version of events, “and I don’t even care. I’m not going to talk about it. I guarantee it wasn’t accurate.”
Smart did have a bit more to say about the incident: “Our staff was worried about me getting kicked out of the game. I never even intended to get a technical foul,” Smart said. “One thing (I’m) going to make clear: We don’t take a backseat to anyone. That’s how we go about things.
“That’s the only way you beat Kansas. Our first year at Texas we were up five at halftime at Phog Allen (Fieldhouse). One of our coaches told me, ‘Coach you’ve got to convince these guys they can win.’ I said, ‘What do you mean, we’re up at halftime?’ He was exactly right. We didn’t have the belief we needed to have. They won (over his UT team) like they always do at home. I learned the hard way against Kansas. You’ve got to stand up to them. The most important part of that was our players. They stuck with it.”
Though Self obviously had a bit of a problem with the opposing coach having a verbal exchange with one of his players, he was quite complimentary of the Golden Eagles’ play during KU’s first loss in five games. Marquette improved to 5-0.
“I thought Marquette played great,” Self said. The Golden Eagles, who were led by big man Oso Ighodaro’s 21 points and nine rebounds, forced 18 KU turnovers. The Jayhawks were 6-of-17 from 3 and hit 40.7% of their shots overall.
McCullar led the way with 24 points but had six turnovers. Hunter Dickinson had 13 points and eight rebounds, while Dajuan Harris had just four points and KJ Adams three.
“I thought they were so quick and things they can do as well as anybody is have guards that can drive into post-up positions,” Self said. “Their center had a fabulous game, made some hard shots. We got behind, played catch-up the whole game. I thought we played better than the score. You miss all your free throws (KU was 9 of 16; Marquette 9 of 12) and botch as many opportunities as we did, botched opportunities lead to points on the other end. They were definitely the better team tonight.”
Yet Self said he’s still a believer in his own squad.
“We’ve had four step up and play well (in most games),” Self said. “KJ Adams’ mom just passed (Friday, he arrived in Hawaii Monday). The courage he showed in playing ... he’s totally fatigued, exhausted, hasn’t slept. KJ gave us more than you could ever expect him give us. Juan didn’t have a great game. We’ve played well to this point. Their speed and the way they played bothered us.”
KU senior Nick Timberlake, who hit 1-of-5 shots in the opening victory against Chaminade, was 1-of-5 again, this time for five points.
He dismissed the game’s dust-up as a possible factor in the outcome.
“I don’t think it did anything. It’s part of the game, was a chippy game. Marquette has a good team. it wasn’t our best game, but a good experience,” Timberlake said.
Now KU, after getting just a few hours sleep, will return to the arena Wednesday for a game that starts at 9:30 a.m. Hawaii time, 1:30 p.m. Central.
“A 5:15 wake-up call sounds pretty early,“ Self said after the semifinal game that started at 5:30 p.m., Hawaii time.
This story was originally published November 22, 2023 at 1:17 AM.
