How big is Saturday’s game vs. Big 12 leader Houston? Bill Self offers his take
The Kansas Jayhawks, who have opened Big 12 play with a 5-3 record, will play host to league-leader Houston on Saturday in a men’s basketball game that could ultimately have a major impact on the conference race.
“For us to remain in contact … if you don’t get this one, you almost are still in it, but the distance and the contact and the schedule, things like that, you’d have to really pull a rabbit out of your hat,” KU coach Bill Self said Thursday as the conference schedule approaches the halfway mark.
“Hopefully if we are able to take care of business Saturday, it puts us back in the mix,” Self, who did not go so far as call this a “must win,” added of the contest between the No. 8-ranked Jayhawks and No. 4 Cougars set for a 3 p.m. tip at Allen Fieldhouse,
Houston, 19-2 overall, currently sits atop 14-team Big 12 standings with a 6-2 record. Iowa State and Texas Tech are right behind at 5-2, while KU (17-4) and TCU are 5-3 and Baylor 4-3 entering this weekend’s slate of games.
KU, which has won 16 consecutive games in Allen Fieldhouse, is 4-0 at home and 1-3 on the road in league action entering the Houston game.
“I’ve always thought the formula to have a great year was win at home, go 50-50 on the road and you’ve had a heck of a year,” Self said. “Especially in a hard league it’ll be hard to do either one of those. Our schedule gets pretty hard. It’s been hard already.
“Playing at home is probably as important or more important than it ever has been because road games are going to be at a premium as far as going in and stealing them. Because you will have to go in and beat a Top 25 team on the road if you are going to win,” Self stated.
Saturday’s game is KU’s biggest home game on a national stage since a Dec. 1 contest between then-No. 5-ranked KU and No. 4 UConn. The Jayhawks, who prevailed, 69-65, over the Huskies (who are now No. 1), improved to 13-0 at home against top 5-ranked opponents ranked higher than KU in the 21-year Self era.
“I actually think this is a bigger game than UConn,” Self said Thursday. “The thing about UConn is it was the first of December. That feels like a season ago. This is getting into the dog days. This one will feel different. A lot of that is because of the respect we have for Houston and how well they’ve done and them coming into our league new and all that stuff. I think this is one our players and their players both probably have circled. You’d be disappointed if they hadn’t.”
The Cougars, who enter on a five-game winning streak, lead the country in scoring defense (52.9 points allowed per game) and field goal percentage defense (35.5%). The Cougars lead the Big 12 in turnover margin at plus-7.3, which ranks second nationally. The Cougars also average 10.1 steals and 5.3 blocks a game.
“I have not seen them when they are not turned up. I know they will be turned up Saturday,” Self said, adding, “They are as good defensively as any team in country without question. They probably have been the last three or four years.”
Guard Jamal Shead, who Self says is a strong candidate for Big 12 player of the year, is third in the league in steals with 46. Forward Ja’Vier Francis is fourth in the league in blocked shots with 33.
“They are connected. They fly around. They load up. They are a good ballscreen defense team. They trap a lot, pressure out of it and pressure to steal,” Self said.
The Cougars average 74.0 points a game and lead the country in scoring margin at plus-21.2. Guards Shead (12.3 ppg, 5.8 assists per game), L.J Cryer (15.1 ppg) and Emanuel Sharp (12.2 ppg) are are a formidable group.
“It would be hard to say as two-way players if there’s a better set of guards in America than those two,” Self said of Shead and former Baylor Bear guard Cryer.
Former Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars also have a plus-8 rebound margin. Forward J-Wan Roberts averages 7.1 boards a game, sixth best mark in the league.
“They keep balls alive. We have to be exceptional on the glass,” Self said. “No question that will be a major key in us having success.”
KU senior big man Hunter Dickinson has watched the Cougars on TV.
“Now that I’m in the Big 12, I definitely try to watch more of the teams because I’m trying to familiarize myself with them,” the former Michigan center said. “They have two really good guards in Cryer and Shead. Sharp does a really good job. They have three guards who are really dynamic. They do a good job being able to create for themselves and others.
“They are obviously a very good good defensive team. I think I see that every other day on Twitter about how great they are defensively. So I think it’ll be very fun for us to go against that defense and kind of see where we stack up in terms of how they guard and how solid they are defensively,” Dickinson noted.
The Jayhawks will next meet Kansas State at 8 p.m., Monday in Manhattan.
