Bill Self throws postgame barb at Shaka Smart over in-game dust-up, double technical

After No. 1 Kansas dropped their first game of the season Tuesday evening vs. Marquette, there was some animosity in the postgame from head coach Bill Self over how a certain confrontation was handled.

Towards the end of the first half, play was halted at SimpliFi Arena in Honolulu thanks to a bit of trash talk, which appeared to start with Jayhawk wing Kevin McCullar, who apparently said something to Shaka Smart over on the Marquette sidelines. It’s unclear what chain of events sparked a much bigger ordeal, but soon after the play by McCullar, players and coaches from both teams had left the benches and were yelling at each other.

In a video from a Twitter account with the handle “CowardlyDoggo,” Smart and Self are seen in a discussion with the officials, and break out of the little meeting still barking back and forth at each other before the video shows some footage from when the incident first escalated.

In that clip, in the second half of the video below, you can see Smart yelling towards the Kansas bench while one of his assistant coaches holds him back as a crowd of Jayhawk and Golden Eagle players gathered.

pic.twitter.com/FSvfph2qSg

— wow that was crazy (@CowardlyDoggo) November 22, 2023

Even after coming together to talk things over with the referees, Bill Self and Shaka Smart still appear to be at odds as they head back to their respective sidelines. Something just ain’t right here.

The coaches were obviously asked about the ordeal in the postgame, where Smart did his best to get past the issue and talk ball, while Self called the Marquette coach a fabricator.

According to Gary Bedore of the Kansas City Star, Self scoffed at the situation when asked about it during his press conference, saying: “I doubt it was accurate just so you know,” of Smart’s version of events. He added: “And I don’t even care. I’m not going to talk about it. I guarantee it wasn’t accurate.”

Meanwhile, Shaka Smart simply pointed to Kevin McCullar, who hit the first-half three which sparked this whole snafu, and noted what a terrific competitor he is and always has been in the Big 12.

Whatever happened between Kevin McCullar, Shaka Smart and Bill Self, we may never know. But either way, Marquette is the team moving on to the Maui Invitational championship after they responded better out of the first half stoppage, going on a run to end the half while Kansas failed to score for the remaining 3:19. They would wind up winning 73-59 and will now face Purdue in today’s title game.