WATCH: Kansas assistant coach Norm Roberts talks about Jayhawks surviving first half scare from Howard in NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament didn’t get the nickname March Madness by accident. The No. 1 seeded Kansas Jayhawks survived a first half scare from the 16th seeded Howard Bison on Thursday afternoon in their first-round matchup. The Jayhawks managed to pull away in the second half and win in convincing fashion, 96-68, but that wasn’t without some nervous moments early in the game. The Bison led Kansas 32-31 with 6:08 remaining in the first half, but the Jayhawks were able to build a 13-point advantage going into the locker room at halftime. After the game, KU assistant head coach Norm Roberts was relieved his team brought home the win after a stressful first half.

Check out the clip of what he had to say below to Allie LaForce. You can also read the transcribed version of the audio clip below it, too.

"Well, I don't know [if we were] well-oiled. I know Bill Self is going to kill me when I get back to the hotel."

—@KUhoops assistant coach Norm Roberts 😅 pic.twitter.com/ctzilgsMRX

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 16, 2023

Kansas assistant coach Norm Roberts was relieved

“I don’t know [if we were] well-oiled. Because I know Bill Self is gonna kill me when I get back to the hotel. We got into a rat race game. I mean, it was going up and down. Our guys were like, get me out, I’m tired. But we made some big shots. We got stops when we needed, but we really gotta tighten up our defense,” Roberts said following the win.

He spoke with Kansas head coach Bill Self at halftime and the Jayhawks’ head man was not happy with his team’s performance on the defensive end. “He just said that we’ve gotta play a lot better defense. We’ve gotta rebound the ball and we’ve gotta screen somebody,” Roberts said.

Bill Self recently had a medical procedure done where he had two stents implemented in his heart. He said on Thursday that he doesn’t feel like he’s quite ready to coach yet, so we’ll have to see when he returns to the bench for the Jayhawks.

Since they were able to avoid the upset today against Howard, Kansas avoided becoming just the second No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history to lose to a No. 16 seed. The only No. 1 seed to fall to a No. 16 in tournament history came in 2018, when UMBC stunned the top-seeded Virginia Cavaliers, 74-54.

Kansas got some outstanding performances from Jalen Wilson and Gradey Dick in the win. Wilson stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points and seven rebounds and Dick stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. Up next, the Jayhawks will face the winner of the Arkansas and Illinois game in the second round. If Kansas can win their Round of 32 matchup, they will advance to the Sweet 16.