Bill Self not worried about Kansas' confidence despite close losses

Kansas is just .500 in its last 12 games, taking a tumble from the AP Top 25 rankings as the postseason fast approaches.

Four of the six losses in that span have come by a single-digit margin, including Saturday’s 78-73 loss to Texas Tech. After the game against the Red Raiders, coach Bill Self was asked if he’s concerned about his team losing so many close games.

“No, you know what, we played really well against Houston,” Self said. “We came from behind and made it very interesting today. We had to do a lot of things right and we didn’t do it right on the defensive end. Colorado we did it right on both ends, for the most part. We didn’t do it right at Utah, obviously 60-60, we don’t finish the game there.”

All that to say that the results haven’t been entirely alike. There have been games where Kansas has executed and those where it hasn’t. And sometimes it’s that simple.

As far as what the recent run of results means for his team, Self summed it up succinctly. He’s not convinced there’s a confidence problem at this point, despite the setbacks.

“Confidence standpoint in that situation, I’m not going to say that,” Self told a reporter. “I do think that we can play better in those one-, two-, three-possession type games, which I think is to your point, I’m sure. But it’s not going to be something; we’ve won a lot of games in the last one-, two- or three-possession games over time. Things have a tendency to balance out over time and we’re not making enough plays, but particularly we’re not getting key defensive stops when you’ve got to get a stop.”

For the Kansas coach, it’s not exactly rocket science.

“Puts a lot more pressure on you executing offensively when you don’t get a stop the possession earlier, and seems like to me that’s happening more often than the poor offensive execution,” Self said.

Kansas will return to action on Monday with a game at No. 4 Houston. The Jayhawks lost the previous meeting this year 92-86.