KU’s Dajuan Harris learned a lesson playing against Bahamas’ Buddy Hield, Eric Gordon

Losing an early-August exhibition basketball game to a Bahamian National Team that included a pair of elite NBA guards does not classify as a big deal to Bill Self.

“There was nothing disheartening about this,” Self, Kansas’ 21st-year head coach, said of the Jayhawks’ 87-81 setback to the Buddy Hield/Eric Gordon-led Bahamian Nationals on Monday at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum. It’s the same squad the Jayhawks defeated 92-87 on Saturday in the same venue (though Gordon did not play in that game).

“This doesn’t mean anything and it’s probably not bad for us to get humbled a bit,” Self, whose Jayhawks are expected to be ranked No. 1 or 2 in 2023-24 preseason polls, added.

Self, who follows the NBA closely, was impressed with Hield, a 6-foot-4, 30-year-old former Oklahoma Sooner now with the Indiana Pacers who hit four 3s in the 10-minute third quarter and finished with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He was 5-of-11 from 3.

Notably, Hield went head to head with KU’s Kevin McCullar on Saturday, then gave him some advice after the game.

Gordon, a 6-3, 34-year-old member of the Phoenix Suns, contributed 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting (2-of-8 from 3).

Hield hit a pair of 3s at the end of the third quarter. First, he lost the ball off the dribble, regained it in the corner, gathered himself and swished a 3. Then, in a one-on-one battle against McCullar, Hield cashed a 3 to conclude the scoring in the quarter.

Hield and Gordon did not play the fourth quarter. With those two in the game, the score was Team Bahamas 69, KU 65.

“Pat ‘em on the butt. Those were good plays,” Self said “I thought we defended Buddy and Eric pretty well to be honest. Buddy made some unbelievable shots, unbelievable. He could be an All-Star eventually.”

Hield, who seemingly had a lot of fun playing against the Jayhawks, at one point took a seat on KU’s bench during the actual game, drawing a big smile from Self.

Hield tapped KU point guard Dajuan Harris on the backside after Harris stroked his first of three 3s in seven tries. Harris, who hit 1 of 12 shots and scored four points total in KU’s exhibition wins over the Puerto Rico Select Team on Thursday and the Bahamas on Saturday, erupted for 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting. He had five steals, two assists, three turnovers.

Senior guard Nick Timberlake also hit three 3s in seven tries and scored 13 points.

“The first two games I made no shots. Today I finally made a shot,” Harris said. “He (Hield) just congratulated me. That’s what pros do, make shots.”

Harris said there was a lot of good-natured trash talk during the game.

“All love,” Harris said. “I was getting to the lanes. They were trying to make me shoot. They kept telling me to shoot the ball today. My shots were finally falling.

“(Hield and Gordon) were just trying to make me better.”

A third NBA player, Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton, elected to work out an hour before the game but passed on playing in the contest for Team Bahamas.

“After the game when they were shaking my hand, they kept telling me, ‘Keep shooting the ball. You’ll need to do that.’ I thank them for doing that, helping me get better. I just had a great experience,” Harris stated.

Harris in the first half stripped the ball from Hield and raced to the other end for a layup. Later he stole the ball from Gordon and again went coast-to-coast for a layup.

Asked if he’ll forever remember the day he swiped the ball from NBA talent, the 6-2, 170-pound Harris said: “Yeah I’ll probably remember that, but I do that to a lot of people.”

Asked about Hield’s playful nature (i.e. sitting on KU’s bench) Harris said: “He’s a good guy. He was even talking to our coaches, trash talking a little bit. They’ve been knowing each other a long time so it’s all love.”

KU coach Self considered Harris’ outing a bright spot.

“Juan looked to score; that was a positive,” Self said. “I thought we did some good things. We missed not having Arterio (Morris, knee bruise that he could have played with if it was a regular-season game) out there. Hopefully we can get Johnny (Furphy, new addition to the team who will arrive in Lawrence for the start of the school year) out there so we have more depth.

“We didn’t shoot the ball (44.1% overall, 7 of 26 3s for 26.9%). I thought we took some marginal shots. We turned it over (16 times) to lead to layups. We were just way too careless with the ball. That was good competition. I thought we defended Buddy and Eric pretty well to be honest.”

Self said KU junior forward KJ Adams (three points, six boards) was ineffective mostly because “his knee was bothering him.”

“You saw him limping around, so KJ wasn’t himself today,” Self said.

Self said Adams’ injury was not believed to be serious.

“With KJ (limping) and Arterio not playing and whatnot … we’re better than what we played today,” Self said. “All in all not bad.”

McCullar scored 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting (1 of 6 3s; 4 of 7 free throws). Hunter Dickinson had 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting with nine rebounds and four assists.

The Jayhawks were to enjoy some more free time after Monday’s game then return home Tuesday, arriving in Lawrence in the late evening hours. The players, who have been in Lawrence since early June for summer school, now will head to their hometowns and be back in Lawrence for the start of class on Aug. 21.