Why Bill Self graded KU basketball a B-plus — on a curve — in nonconference play
Bill Self waved goodbye to this year’s KU basketball team with a smile Monday night after presenting the Jayhawks the best holiday gift possible — a five-day Christmas vacation that started immediately after an impressive 90-61 victory over Davidson at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I thought that’s the best we’ve looked ... offensively — the ball moved and we played with pace,” Self, KU’s 23rd-year coach, said approvingly after his No. 17-ranked team finished the nonconference portion of the schedule with a 10-3 record. Davidson fell to 8-4.
The Jayhawks, who were led by the 18-point outings of Tre White and Flory Bidunga, had six players score in double figures. KU hit 57.8% of its shots including 52.4% of its 3s (11-of-21).
Davidson hit 35.8% of its shots while going 11-of-30 from 3 for 36.7%. KU won the rebound battle by 11 while coming up with 13 steals.
“(We) guarded fairly well and rebounded well the first half,” Self said. KU led 51-30 at the break. “I thought Tre (16 points first half) got us off to a great start. And Melvin (Council Jr., 10 points, nine assists, seven rebounds) is finding himself. Every game he is getting better. I thought everybody played well, contributed, and it was a good way to end the first season.”
KU’s 10-3 record was attained despite freshman sensation Darryn Peterson playing in just four of the 13 games.
The Jayhawks lost to Duke on a neutral court, North Carolina on the road and fell to UConn in Allen Fieldhouse. KU had notable wins over Syracuse, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Missouri, Princeton, Davidson and North Carolina State.
“If you look at (our) record before the season started, I would say probably a B-minus,” Self said, assessing a grade to his team entering Christmas vacation. “If you look at it that we played it without DP, I’d say probably a B- plus. I think the guys got better.
“Carolina would be a hard game regardless (Peterson played 28 minutes). But losing to Duke and Connecticut … not saying we would have won, but I think having a full complement of players it could have been a different situation. But guys are learning to play through it, and hopefully we’ll be better for it.”
Several Jayhawks will have fond memories of Monday’s game to discuss with family and friends the next several days.
White hit 7 of 12 shots (4-of-5 from 3) en route to his 18 points. He had eight rebounds and four steals. Bidunga finished an assortment of crowd-pleasing lob dunks and finished 8-of-11 shooting (2-of-2 from the line) with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Freshman Rosario, who entered the game 10-of-40 from 3, scored 13 points off 5-of-10 shooting (3-of-7 from 3) in 19 minutes.
“I thought he got off a lot of shots per minute,” Self said with a smile. “I thought it was great (he made shots). He needs to see the ball go in the basket. He did that and made a couple athletic plays. I also thought Jayden Dawson (two points, two assists, two rebounds, two steals, one block in 17 minutes) played well, so that was good to see.”
Also, Bryson Tiller had 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting (1-of-1 from 3) with six rebounds, two steals and two blocks). Jamari McDowell hit two 3s in three tries and scored 10 points with four assists, while Elmarko Jackson had five assists, two steals and two points. Paul Mbiya joined in on the fun with four points, including a dunk, while Samis Calderon also finished a slam.
“I thought our defense wasn’t bad. I mean, how many (3-pointers) did they make late? I mean, they probably made four or five in the last five or six minutes or something like that,” Self said of the Wildcats.
“So to me, those don’t count quite as much when the score is the way it was, but I thought we did a good job. You know, we’re switching so much, and bigs aren’t used to guarding 3-point shooters. But for the most part, they did fine (defensively),” he added.
The Jayhawks will reassemble as a team Saturday night. Their next game is against UCF set for a 1 p.m. tipoff Jan 3 in Florida. The players will hold a holiday hoops clinic Dec. 29 in Allen.
