Kansas coach Bill Self issues challenge to bench after two points vs. Cincinnati
It took 39:50 of game time before the Kansas men’s basketball team scored a bench point against Cincinnati on Monday.
After UC intentionally fouled KU freshman Elmarko Jackson, he calmly sank both free throws to ice the game.
No. 7 Kansas held on to win 74-69 over the Bearcats at Allen Fieldhouse.
Jackson’s free throws lessened UC’s bench-scoring advantage to a gaudy 30 points (32-2). Naturally, Kansas coach Bill Self was concerned.
“I think there’s some concern — the two bench points came with 13 seconds left on free throws,” Self said. “So, they basically outscored us 32 to zero from the bench. I don’t know if that’s ever been heard of when a team wins.”
For the Jayhawks, the lack of bench scoring isn’t exactly a new problem. KU is tied for No. 317 in bench points per game (14.3) with rival K-State.
And Self doesn’t seem to trust the second unit, with the Jayhawks’ bench ranking No. 354 in bench minutes percentage (20.6%). That means the starters are playing about 80% of the game, or close to 32 minutes apiece.
While the addition of Furphy into the starting lineup has strengthened the first five, that move has also taken away Kansas’ best bench scorer.
What’s left are two freshmen still figuring out the college game in Jackson and Jamari McDowell, plus a sixth-year player who’s struggled to put together two consistent good games in Nick Timberlake. There’s also Parker Braun, who isn’t much of a scoring threat and only plays spot minutes for (or occasionally next to) Hunter Dickinson.
It’s hard to imagine this Jayhawk team reaching its title aspirations with a bench unit that could go scoreless for almost an entire 40 minutes — or 10 seconds shy of it.
“I guess if we had brought Johnny off the bench, we would have more bench points,” Self said. “We’ve got to get more production than that.”
Timberlake and McDowell only played two minutes apiece, taking one shot attempt between them.
Self pointed out that the pair didn’t get the chance to showcase itself, but it further reiterates that he doesn’t have complete faith in his bench, which leads to increased minutes for KU’s starters.
Kevin McCullar and Dickinson are already battling knee bruises, and they weren’t as effective coming off Saturday’s loss at West Virginia. Even so, all five starters played at least 30 minutes, and four of the five, including McCullar, played 35-plus.
It led to tired legs from Kansas players, which were indeed apparent at moments on Monday. And that’s why it’s pivotal for Self to get production from the bench unit, even if it’s just from a player or two.
In the stacked Big 12, there’s no such thing as an easy night, as Kansas can attest. And KU has 12 more conference battles left — a fact Self is well aware of.
“Depth is important, Self said. “It’s a heck of a lot (more) important now than it is in the postseason. In the postseason, you get 20-minute halftimes and the commercials are a minute longer. I mean there’s a lot more time to rest. Now, Saturday (to) Monday, get on a plane, get back at 4 in the morning on some trips or whatever. Then you play – quick turnaround.”
Self even issued a challenge to his team.
“This is when depth is more important and also depth in the tournament is most important through foul troubles and injuries,” Self said. “If you don’t have those, you can play guys 35 minutes in the NCAA Tournament. At least we could. Now, it’s more prevalent, it’s more obvious that we don’t have the depth or the production off the bench.
“Now’s when guys have got to step up. We need guys to step up and play in a way that adds value when they’re in the game because Hunt and Kevin are playing hurt. They’re playing on bad wheels. … This needed to be the game where we could take those guys out, but we couldn’t.”
