Why Bill Self considers this Kansas basketball team to have six starters
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bill Self labels Bryson Tiller a sixth starter, hybrid option at a few spots.
- Tiller matches Tre White with 30 points in three games and 75% on 3s.
- KU outrebounded Corpus Christi 44-26; Bidunga and Tiller logged heavy frontcourt minutes.
Kansas men’s basketball freshman Bryson Tiller has come off the bench to the tune of 16.4 minutes a game through KU’s first three games of the 2025-26 season.
The 6-foot-11, 240-pound forward from Atlanta has scored 30 points, the exact same total as senior Tre White, who has started all three contests and logged 22.1 minutes per game.
White, a 6-7, 215-pound senior transfer from Illinois, has grabbed nine rebounds total to Tiller’s 15. White has seven assists to Tiller’s zero, while Tiller has five blocked shots, White zero. Also, White has three steals to Tiller’s none.
Both have produced in their own way this young season.
“I told the guys, and I actually believe that … I don’t think we should look at Bryson as a bench guy. I think we should look at it as we’ve got three starters playing two spots with Flory (Bidunga) and Bryson and Tre, because I do believe that’s the case,” KU coach Bill Self said after the Jayhawks’ 77-46 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Sophomore big man Bidunga, 6-9, 220 pounds and a former McDonald’s All-American, had long been considered a lock to start all season. He has averaged 14.3 points and 7.0 rebounds a game. He’s started three games and played 26.6 minutes per outing, second most on the team behind starter Melvin Council Jr. (27.5 mpg).
“I thought he did fine,” Self said of Tiller, who scored 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting (1-of-2 from 3 and 4-of-9 from the line).
“The thing about it is we didn’t share the ball and we had a lot of guys that were over-dribbling against pressure when the open man was just one pass away and we didn’t make that play,” Self added. “They turned us over a lot (KU had 18 turnovers to Corpus Christi’s 12) but eight or 10 of our turnovers were us not getting off the ball and throwing to the first free man. Bryson was guilty of that a couple times. So was Tre, and so was Melvin (four points, six assists in 24 minutes), and so was Elmarko (Jackson, four points, two assists, two turnovers in 20 minutes) and everybody else.”
Tiller has drained 6 of 8 3s in three games for 75%.
“I didn’t envision that, not percentage wise, and that’s good,” Self said of Tiller’s accuracy from deep. “But the best play he made tonight was not shooting it (3 from corner), but driving it and dunking it. That’s the best play he made tonight.
“To me, I want him to shoot when he’s open, wide open, but if he sees a path to get to the hole, he needs to go try to get to the cup. And that was something that we haven’t seen enough of. He did it against Louisville (in exhibition game) and then he did it tonight. And I think that was a very positive deal.”
Tiller and freshman Darryn Peterson have combined to hit 12 of 20 3s for 60%. Rotation players White, Council, Jackson, Jayden Dawson, Kohl Rosario and Jamari McDowell have combined to make 14 of 49 3s for 28.6%.
“I thought our big guys played a little bigger tonight. That’s something we’ve been on them about,” Self said. Bidunga and Tiller had eight rebounds apiece while 7-footer Paul Mbiya had three boards in 11 minutes. White, who is a guard but expected to play a forward spot, had six rebounds and Rosario five.
“We didn’t get many offensive rebounds from those spots (one from the trio of Bidunga, Mbiya and Tiller), but I think they did better in a lot of ways. They certainly can become better screeners. But I thought for the most part they played to their size, which was good to see,” Self added.
Self was asked specifically about the progress of Mbiya, a 7-foot, 245-pound freshman from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who has a 7-8 wingspan. He did not take a shot but hit 1 of 2 free throws Tuesday vs. the Islanders.
“I don’t know what his role is (yet),” Self said. “If he can’t catch it and dunk it and be a presence inside, which he’s not yet — hopefully he can get there — he’ll labor getting a lot of playing time because he’s not the skill guy to play away from the basket.
“He’s got to be able to help us close to the basket. But I actually thought he was better tonight. I thought he was a little bit more active. I thought in the in 10 minutes he had he did some good things. He needs to forget about trying to show off his touch. He needs to catch it and dunk it, because that’s what he does best, as opposed to kind of tip-toeing around trying to figure out and think about what we’re doing. Just catch the ball and try to tear the rim off.”
KU’s team leader in offensive rebounds through three games is Rosario with five. Bidunga has four, while White has three and Mbiya and Tiller two apiece.
“The coaches want us to be aggressive and super physical,” Tiller said. “They’re aggressive teams, so we just had to match their aggressiveness and that’s how we got the win. It starts in in practice. We compete against each other hard every day, so that is going to translate well to the games.”
Tiller is proving he can play inside and out.
“I’m very comfortable. I work and study the game at all three positions (3, 4 and 5). So I don’t have a problem doing either one,” he said.
Rosario, who had a game-high 16 points Tuesday, with five rebounds (two offensive), noted: “Coach is always talking about turning up and part of playing hard is going to attack for offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds too. So I think if we can do that, we’ll be pretty good.”
KU outrebounded A&M-Corpus Christi 44-26. KU had seven offensive rebounds; the Islanders three.
KU will next meet Princeton at 1 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
