Bill Self rips Kansas basketball’s ‘poor, poor defensive effort’ against UCF
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- Kansas coach Bill Self blamed poor defensive effort after 81-75 loss to UCF.
- KU perimeter defense, ranked No. 2 nationally, surrendered multiple early 3s.
- Foul trouble limited Bidunga and Council early; duo fueled second-half defensive surge.
Bill Self had one major gripe about his team’s play in an 81-75 upset loss at UCF on Saturday.
It was about his team’s defense.
The Jayhawks’ usually stellar defense — a calling card of great Self teams — left a lot to be desired vs. the Knights.
“It was just a poor, poor defensive effort,” the KU coach said. “We’ve guarded a lot better than that of late, but that was a poor performance today. Granted, they’ve got some guys that can go get their own.”
Heading into Saturday’s game, KU (10-4, 0-1 Big 12) ranked among the best defenses in the nation in multiple metrics. A big part of that was KU’s elite perimeter defense.
The Jayhawks don’t have any weak defenders in their starting lineup, so they can switch everything with ease. That means even if KU bigs Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller need to guard on the perimeter, it’s usually not an issue.
Before the game, opposing teams were shooting just 25.2% on 3-pointers, with KU’s perimeter defense ranking No. 2 nationally. But that wasn’t the case vs. the Knights.
UCF, ranked No. 11 in the nation in 3-point percentage (38.9%) entering the day, hit five 3s in the first half alone.
The culprits? Lackadaisical defense and some foul trouble. Bidunga and Council were both whistled for two fouls in the first half. Bidunga played 13 first-half minutes, Council 10 as the Jayhawks trailed 44-41 at half.
Self offered another concern
“The thing about it is, more than anything, is we couldn’t guard the ball,” he said. “We had a really hard time with (Riley) Kugel, obviously, and obviously their point guard got downhill and they played off of switches. I thought (Themus) Fulks had a really big game, too. So, those two more than anybody, we just didn’t contain them very well. And they played to the switches, which was smart.”
Kugel finished with 19 points, with Fulks scoring 16.
“We screwed up some slips and some things like that,” Self said, “which we knew that was a big point of emphasis that we were going to have to be better at. When we tried to stay connected with four and five, we never got any stops.”
To KU’s credit, the defense was much improved in the second half. UCF shot only 36.4% from the field, including 18.2% from 3.
Still, KU’s offense faltered in the second half. Council was the only player to score double-digit points in the period, with Darryn Peterson playing only five minutes; Self mentioned a minutes restriction and possible cramping as reasons for sitting Peterson.
A large part of KU’s defensive improvement in the second half came because Council and Bidunga played big minutes in the period.
“Me and Flory came back in the game,” Council. “We had to get a stop, get a kill. Just play how we play.”
The Jayhawks will look to bounce back Tuesday with a home game against TCU (8 p.m., ESPN).
