Why Bill Self seemed extra animated during KU basketball’s win over Kansas State
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bill Self ended a personal three-game Bramlage skid as KU routed K-State 86-62.
- Seven-man KU rotation shot 53.4%; five players scored in double figures.
- KU improved to 15-5, 5-2 Big 12; Darryn Peterson expected back for BYU game.
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self, who often remains stone-faced on the bench during games, actually appeared to be outwardly enjoying himself during a 27-7 run that put an exclamation point on the Jayhawks’ 86-62 victory over Kansas State on Saturday night at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.
That surge of highlight-reel basketball stretched a four-point KU lead with 7:51 left to a 24-point margin of victory. The much-sought-after victory snapped Self’s personal three-game losing streak in K-State’s “Octagon of Doom.”
“I’ll be honest with you, this is a big game to me, personally, because it’s an in-state game. And I told our players, I said, ‘Heck, you’re going to be here one year. You leave here, and nobody talks about it, at least in your world. I’ve got to live here,’” Self told reporters after improving his personal record to 38-9 versus the rival Wildcats.
“I don’t know if I was more animated, but I was probably more excited to see us play that well than I normally am,” Self added.
Self clapped his hands and was on his feet nodding his approval over several key baskets down the stretch. He also raised his hands up high after one of his team’s four 3s to KSU’s 10. The KU coach admitted it was “fun” watching his seven-man rotation hit 53.4% of their shots from the field.
Five of the seven players scored in double figures, led by forward Flory Bidunga’s 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting (with 10 rebounds). Backup guard Elmarko Jackson came off the bench for a career-high 19 points, while guard Melvin Council Jr. had 17 points with a career-high 12 assists and seven rebounds.
Forward Bryson Tiller had 16 points, one off a career high, and wing Tre White 13 points. Guard Jamari McDowell failed to score, in fact missing all five of his 3-point tries, but was cited for his moving the ball on offense and defense. Jayden Dawson joined Jackson as the only other reserve used. He did not score with one rebound in 15 minutes.
“I was excited,” Self said, “because I thought we played the way we’re supposed to play. I thought we shared the ball. I thought we were great in late clock and it’s nice to see the guys actually playing the way that you envision them playing. And we haven’t done it consistently at all. So that was more of (the sideline demeanor).”
Self, whose Jayhawks improved to 15-5 overall and 5-2 in the Big 12 (KSU is 10-10, 1-6) wanted the game so badly, he addressed the topic of rivalries in sports more than once since Tuesday’s win at Colorado.
“It was good,” Self said of a win attained without Darryn Peterson, who missed the contest because of an ankle sprained suffered Tuesday at CU. “You know, we talked about it a lot. It’s hard for, I think, in-state rivalries to mean as much to the players in today’s world than they did in the past. And so we tried to make sure our guys understood what an important game it was to many people around here.”
Freshman forward Tiller, who redshirted a year ago when KU lost to KSU in Bramlage, heard Self’s message loud and clear. He hit 6 of 8 shots and was 4-of-4 from the line with seven rebounds as KU won the rebounding battle 39-28.
“It means a lot,” Tiller said of beating K-State. “This game is personal for us. It’s a rivalry. We just had to have an aggressive mindset coming in. It didn’t lead to the greatest of starts (KU led 37-35 at halftime) but we locked in our defense and that’s what led us to win the game.”
K-State’s leading scorer P.J. Haggerty scored 23 points on 6-of-17 shooting (1-of-2 from 3 and 10-of-12 from the line) in 39 minutes. The Jayhawks were able to survive the first-half shooting show of Andrej Kostic, who hit four 3s and scored 12 points. He did not score the final half. Big man Dorin Buca had six points and 11 rebounds, 10 of the rebounds the first half.
“I think they missed some of the same shots they made the first half,” said Self. KU outscored K-State 49-27 the final stanza. The Wildcats made just 2 of 10 3s in the final 20 minutes.
“And I think we rebounded the ball a lot better, obviously. We tried to stay on traps even when we were switching on P.J. just to try to get the ball out of his hands. He still got fouled, but I thought we did a better job on him, even though first half we did a great job on him.
“But the five guys that were our main players, production wise, I thought they all played great. We haven’t had that where we had everybody playing well like we did tonight, especially late.”
Looking at the big picture, KU, 5-2 in the league overall after opening 1-2, completed a week in which it won two road games.
KU next will play BYU at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. Self said freshman Peterson should be available for that game. It was announced Saturday that ESPN’s “GameDay” crew would be in town for the contest.
“You look at it, coulda, woulda, shoulda, I wish we’d been a little bit better two weeks ago, but we weren’t and we’ve done about as well as you can do since then,” Self said. “We’re getting better, and we’re not whole yet, so we’ve still got to figure out some stuff. But that was fun to watch those seven play out there. To me, I thought the ball moved. I thought we were so good late clock, you know, under seven on the shot clock.
“I thought we were great. And, you know, Flory, he just kind of hung in there and hung in there. And next thing you know, he puts himself in a position to play to his athletic ability and everything. So that was great to see. It’s a terrific team win.”
He had to be happy the K-State fans were unable to storm the court this year.
“Proud of our guys. It was a good atmosphere. The crowd was good,” Self said, “but they never really had a chance to get into it like they have in past years, because they just didn’t have that run, that signature run, that they’ve gone on against us.”
