Bill Self on Kansas first half against K-State: 'We're lucky to be up two'

Big 12 basketball is filled with tremendous battles on the hardwood night in and night out. And Monday night’s in-state rivalry showdown between Kansas and Kansas State is no different.

At the half, the Jayhawks have a narrow 32-30 lead over the Wildcats, with both teams putting together valiant efforts in the first half. As the teams head into the locker room, the ESPN team calling the game caught up with Kansas head coach Bill Self to get his take on his team’s first-half performance.

“Well, they’re doing a good job guarding us, playing more athletic than we are right now. We’re lucky to be up two; we didn’t play very well,” said Self.

The game between the two Big 12 rivals has been evenly matched for the most part. Kansas does have the lead in field goal percentage and in free throws made. However, the Jayhawks have committed more turnovers (6-5) and personal fouls (6-4), and the Wildcats, while shooting a lower percentage, have made more threes (5-2) in the game to keep it close.

Only time will tell if Self and The Jayhawks can overcome their in-state rivals’ raucous environment and escape with a win on the road to help keep their chances of a Big 12 regular season title alive and strong.

Sampson calls Houston being favored at Kansas ‘sacrilegious’ following loss to the Jayhawks

In the Jayhawks’ last game, a Saturday afternoon’s top-10 matchup with the Houston Cougars, Kansas was a 1.5-point underdog. However, they finished the game with a 13-point home victory, sending a message to the Big 12 conference in the process. And according to Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson, Kansas should have never been underdogs in the game.

In Saturday’s contest between the top two ranked Big 12 programs, the Jayhawks laid into the Cougars, picking up the 78-65 home victory. And the dominance that they displayed in the game definitely gave credence to Sampson’s take.

“That’s sacrilegious,” said Sampson. “You challenged the Jayhawk pride telling them they’re not favored.”

The way Kansas handled Houston on the court would suggest that they took things personally and wanted to send a message to the No. 3 ranked Cougars regarding who the top dog is in the conference.

Kansas utilized their size and strength on the inside, with a slight blend of perimeter shooting, 42 points inside the paint compared to Houston’s 24. The Jayhawks finished the game shooting 68.9 percent from the field and connecting on six of their 13 three-point attempts. Outside of those 13 shots from beyond the arc, only four of their 28 two-point field goal attempts came from outside the paint.