Fans were chanting Bidunga’s name in KU Jayhawks’ win vs. Iowa St. What coach said after
Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball coach Bill Self heard the student section’s chants loud and clear during KU’s dominant victory over Iowa State on Monday night.
Speaking with reporters after the 69-52 Big 12 win at Allen Fieldhouse, Self indicated that he wasn’t amused by the crowd’s early-game chants of, ”We want Flory! … We want Flory!”
The chanting fans were calling for KU freshman big man Flory Bidunga.
“Yeah, I heard it,” Self said. “They have a chance to chant whatever they want.”
The chants followed some hot and heavy recent social-media debate among fans about whether Bidunga or KJ Adams should be in Self’s starting lineup.
“I love Flory, too,” Self said, “and I want Flory to play, too, but there was no doubt that KJ Adams was a guy that had to be on the floor tonight, because he relieved all pressure from a ball-handling standpoint.”
Bidunga entered the ESPN Big Monday game at the 15:26 mark of the first half. Overall, he had a quiet evening: four points, four rebounds and four blocks in 15 minutes. He’s averaging seven points and 5.6 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per game this season.
Meanwhile, Adams finished Monday’s contest with six points, three rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes.
While Monday evening’s chants didn’t amuse Self, at least one of Bidunga’s teammates, junior guard AJ Storr, seemed to get a kick out of it.
“I heard it,” Storr said. “That’s love. That’s love. That’s definitely love.”
