Bill Self on gameplan vs. Baylor: ‘I was hoping the game was ugly and muddy’

It was a hard fought battle for Kansas, but in the end, the Jayhawks were able to come away from their game with Baylor a win. For head coach Bill Self, winning the game ugly wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened.

Self, while speaking with media following the game, shared that he came in with the gameplan of making things ugly against a talented Baylor team.

“Final gameplan was to try to play seven,” Bill Self said. “If we had to go eight or nine, it would have been Jank [Michael Jankovich] and Wilder [Evers]. Try to rotate those guys a little bit we could do just to get our guys enough rest. I was hoping the game was slow, which it was. I was hoping the game was ugly and muddy, which it was in large part because they turned it over and in large part because we couldn’t make shots.” 

In the end, it was a tough game that at times certainly was ugly. Baylor ended the game with 17 more rebounds than Kansas. However, 21 turnovers by the Bears to only eight by the Jayhawks. Combined, the two teams shot just 13 for 47 from three-point range.

Despite getting a close win, Bill Self also admitted he wasn’t happy with how the game went.

“This is probably the least happy I’ve been after a win because that’s not how you play basketball and that’s certainly not the intellect in which you’re supposed to play it,” Self said. “So, I’m disappointed that we can make those four or five plays that we made in the last minute that put us in harm’s way to actually lose the game.”  

Bill Self provides update on Kevin McCullar, Dajuan Harris Jr. injuries

Kansas was without Kevin McCullar for the win over Baylor. Then, late in the game, Dajuan Harris injured his ankle. After the game, Bill Self shared what he could about those injuries.

“I don’t know anything about Dajuan but I can’t imagine Kevin being a lot better on Monday if he can’t hardly move on Saturday,” Self said. “But, we’ll see.”

The Jayhawks have a quick turnaround, playing on Monday after going on Saturday. Because of that, it’s difficult to know how healthy either player will be for that game.

“Same thing I just said. Dajuan, I don’t know, he’ll get treatment. I don’t know if he’ll be able to play or not tomorrow,” Self said. “He got it pretty good, they said. They said he got it pretty good, but he still made the biggest shot of the game when he came back in.”