Bill Self praises Kansas Jayhawks’ improved defense entering NCAA Tournament
A tough grader, Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self gave the Jayhawks’ high marks for their work on defense in wins over West Virginia, TCU and Texas Tech at last week’s Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Center.
“That’s the best we’ve guarded consistently all year,” said Self, who would love for the squad’s defense to emerge as a lockdown unit during the upcoming NCAA Tournament. “We made some bad mistakes, screwed up some coverages. For the most part I thought we made the other team feel us on most possessions.”
The Jayhawks, the No. 1 seeded team in the Midwest Regional, will open the NCAA Tournament against either Texas A&M-Corpus Christi or Texas Southern at 8:57 p.m. Thursday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. If KU wins it would meet either Creighton or San Diego State in the Round of 32 on Saturday for a spot in the Sweet 16 in Chicago.
It’ll be interesting to see if KU can continue stellar work on defense exhibited in the Jayhawks holding West Virginia to 63 points in the first round, TCU to 62 points in the semifinals and Texas Tech 65 points in the Big 12 title game.
“I felt all along we had to make shots to play well. Now for the first time I think we can make somebody not play well, which is probably just as important as (KU) playing well,” Self said.
KU held West Virginia to 32.8% shooting (6 of 14 from three), TCU to 46% shooting (6 of 15 on threes) and Texas Tech to 44.3% shooting (5 of 19 on threes).
“I think if they (Jayhawks) can keep drawing confidence, believe that if the other team doesn’t play well they are not going to beat us (that would bode well for KU),” Self said, “I felt for the first time we were actually in control when the other team had the ball. That has not happened many times this year. Not all possessions, but some possessions, we were turned up when the other team had the ball.”
Self noted the Jayhawks’ offense put up a lot of points (in scoring 74 points against Texas Tech, 75 against TCU and 87 against West Virginia) despite the fact KU did not shoot particularly well.
KU hit 43.1% of its shots versus the Red Raiders in the final (5 of 22 on threes), 50% against TCU (6 of 18 on threes) and 52.4% against West Virginia (6 of 18 on threes).
For the season, KU (28-6) has averaged 78.6 points per game on 48.1% shooting (35.5% from three). In Big 12 games only KU has averaged 75.1 points on 46.1% percent shooting, (35.6% on threes). The Jayhawks’ opponents averaged 68.1 points on 41.8% shooting in all games (30.1 % from three) and 69.1 points a game on 40.6% shooting (27.5% from three) in Big 12 games only.
Self says another positive entering the NCAA Tournament is the squad’s collective frame of mind.
He said he sensed the Jayhawks were a bit jittery the last week of the regular season. The team was more aggressive in the Big 12 Tournament games in Kansas City, he indicated.
“We were better,” Self said. “I think there was more pressure or us not to screw the league up. We were playing not to screw it up as opposed to playing to go take it (in home wins over TCU and Texas following a loss at TCU to conclude regular season).
“That’s something … NCAA teams will feel that pressure as well. Maybe it was good for us we had to play through that already,” Self said. His Jayhawks shared the regular-season league title with Baylor (at 14-4) then went on to win the Big 12 crown.
This story was originally published March 15, 2022 at 10:15 AM with the headline "Bill Self praises Kansas Jayhawks’ improved defense entering NCAA Tournament."
