Bill Self on Kansas' effort vs. UCF: 'We were all hungover'

Kansas coach Bill Self said the effort against UCF was like everyone was hungover, despite a Kansas win.

Zeke Mayo was the standout star in this one, along with Hunter Dickinson. And boy, did Kansas need its two stars to beat UCF 91-87 at home.

Kansas was coming off a tough loss to Houston on Saturday, so they at least got this one out of the way.

“Yes, I would say we were all hungover, but you said (Zeke) made plays today that he didn’t like he made on Saturday,” Self said. “So, I think that that would probably say that he wasn’t hungover if he did things that he didn’t do the other day. I thought Zeke was great early, obviously, and then, you know, but our offense early was just he and Hunter passing and playing off each other. It didn’t involve anybody else. 

“And that was frustrating, because whenever Zeke has to come out of the game before the first TV time out, it tells you a lot about how the other guys contributed offensively, because it was forcing him to make every play … And so that was frustrating, but Zeke was great.”

Mayon finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the game. Dickinson added 24 points and seven rebounds himself.

Kansas had to climb out of a small hole after trailing 43-41 at halftime. Self saw his squad out score the Knights by six in the final 20 minutes.

Bill Self updates Dajuan Harris’ status after UCF win

No. 11 Kansas played without star point guard Dajuan Harris on Tuesday night in a narrow win over UCF, missing the always steady presence in the backcourt.

According to the Associated Press, Harris had started in 98 straight games, tied for the seventh-longest streak at Kansas.

After the game, Self addressed whether Harris might be able to return on Saturday for a game against Baylor on the road.

“I don’t know. I certainly hope so,” Self said. “We thought he was playing this morning. We thought he was fine this morning, and obviously he goes out to shootaround and couldn’t do anything on it.”

How big a difference maker is Dajuan Harris?

Well, he went into Tuesday night’s game averaging 9.6 points, 5.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. He can fill up the stat sheet.

Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this report