Bill Self looked like a guy who wanted to play in, not coach, a basketball game Friday night.
“He was pumped up. He was ready. He was so pumped up, if he could have put on a uniform, he’d have been out there,” Kansas University junior guard Keith Langford said of the Jayhawks’ energetic, 40-year-old first-year coach, all fired up in the locker room before the 2003-04 season-opener against Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Self, who played at Oklahoma State, of course wore a suit and tie, not a Kansas basketball uniform, in his happy KU debut — a 90-76 victory over the Mocs at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I was excited. I don’t think I was over-excited,” said Self, who said he wasn’t all that nervous in the hours leading up to his first KU game. “They (players) knew I was excited, probably. We were so bad in practice yesterday, I almost felt I had to kind of be that way tonight, kind of make sure everybody’s spirits were up because yesterday wasn’t quite as pleasant as some other days we’ve had.”
The Jayhawks, who had perhaps their worst practice of the season Thursday, carried that effort into Friday’s game, trailing the Southern Conference school, 24-14, 10 1/2 minutes in.
“We got off to such a great start,” Self quipped of the beginning of his KU era. “We didn’t play as bad as the score, and they played really well.”
KU picked up the defense and closed the half on a 28-6 run to lead, 42-30, at intermission. The Mocs suffered 12 turnovers in that 91/2-minute span, which included a pair of spirited Jayhawk runs.
First, Aaron Miles — who collected 12 points, eight assists and four steals — scored four points in an 13-2 surge that turned a 24-14 deficit into a 27-26 advantage at 5:51.
Next, Keith Langford — a team-high 24 points and four steals — scored seven points in a 13-0 half-ending run that turned a 30-29 deficit into a 42-30 advantage.
“I thought our defense was great,” said Self, whose Jayhawks forced 18 turnovers the first half and 12 in the last 9 1/2 minutes. “It was by far the best it has been over an extended period of time, even in practice. I thought it was really good, and the guys were pretty alert.”
Wayne Simien — who scared the heck out of fans by taking a hard fall on his surgically repaired right shoulder early in the game but hopped up and showed no signs of injury — scored four straight points to go with freshman David Padgett’s five points in a 10-2 run to start the second half and open a healthy 52-35 lead.
KU wasn’t threatened the rest of the way.
Simien finished with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Padgett, who was scoreless the first half, had 13 points and 10 boards.
Simien said the team was pumped to play well for its new coach.
“We wanted to make sure he’d get his career here off on the right foot,” Simien said. “We showed how hard we could play, getting loose balls. You saw us hit the floor three or four times. There was a sense of urgency tonight for everybody, not just coach Self, but us, too.”
KU has moved on to a new era, one without Roy Williams and one without the ever-reliable Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich, who are now in the NBA.
“I think it’d be weird for a lot of people to not see Number 10 and 4 run out of the tunnel,” Langford said of Hinrich and Collison. “It was weird for me not seeing ’em. At the same time, we’ve got to go with what we’ve got.”
What about new North Carolina’s Williams, who coached Langford the past two years, not being on hand for a game in which Langford hit nine of 15 shots and five of six free throws?
“It didn’t cross my mind,” Langford said. “Coach Williams is a great coach. I’d have no problem with him being here. You’ve got to put it out of your mind. The next time I see him, I probably won’t even be playing basketball.”
“It is time to move on,” added Simien.
Sixth-rated KU (1-0) will tangle with No. 3 Michigan State, a 64-52 winner over Bucknell Friday, Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse. Tipoff is 8 p.m.
“I’m glad the way this turned out,” Self said, “I’ll be extra glad if the second one turns out as well.”