Bill Self ponders value of ugly wins in Big 12: ‘You wrestle with the pig, you get muddy’

The Kansas Jayhawks have now won their third straight game in the Big 12. It was also an ugly game, but head coach Bill Self doesn’t mind those ugly wins if that’s how his Jayhawks need to earn them in conference play.

On Saturday, Kansas earned a 54-40 win over Cincinnati. After the game, Self compared the win to the prior game against Arizona State and emphasized how important it was for his team to win these types of games.

“We’ve had two examples,” Bill Self said. “Because Arizona State we were not any good in the first half and you hold them to 13 in a half — 13 I think — and you hold this team to 15 in a half on the road, I think what happens is you win the fight, you usually win the game.”

Going into halftime against Cincinnati the Jayhawks trailed by a point. It was on the back of a phenomenal defensive effort that they were able to pull ahead in the second half to win a game Kansas shot just 35.3 percent from the field. That came after trailing Arizona State at the half before a different excellent second-half defensive effort shut down the Sun Devils.

The only loss this season for Kansas came against West Virginia in a 62-61 game. Again, in that game, the Jayhawks went into halftime trailing and made a second-half comeback effort that nearly ended up being enough to win. With that, the only game the Jayhawks had this season in Big 12 play that wasn’t a close game came against UCF. In that game, the Jayhawks won 99-48 and dominated both halves.

“That was a quote that was sent to me this week and we’ve got to keep winning the fight,” Self said. “And we’ve got to enjoy rock fights. What’s that expression? ‘You wrestle with the pig, you get muddy but they like it.’ And we need to be one of those teams that like it, and right now we’re kind of in that mode.”

With the win, Kansas moved to 3-1 in Big 12 play. Three of those games were all close games and Bill Self expects that to continue deep into the season in one of the deepest conferences in the country for college basketball. That continues on Wednesday with a major test against Iowa State.