The euphoria of Kansas University’s men’s basketball victory in Sunday’s regular-season finale at Missouri hadn’t subsided Monday.
Well-wishers stopped KU coach Bill Self to shake his hand as he headed to his office Monday afternoon. Later, he encountered enthusiastic fans who congregated for his weekly Hawk Talk radio show.
“It’s probably one of the biggest wins we’ve been involved with,” said Self, who is in his 11th year as a head coach, first year at KU.
Some of the reasons included …
“The stakes, (NCAA) Tournament implications and seeding, tying Texas for second place in the conference. Throw in the scenario where they were closing down the building and honoring coach (Norm) Stewart and so many former players. It was a big win on an emotional day,” Self said.
Indeed, Sunday’s game was billed as the last game to be played in 32-year-old Hearnes Center.
“It’s about the best we’ve played all year long. It was a great basketball game,” Self said. “I think it gave us a lot of confidence away from home, and we needed to win a game like that.”
KU had dropped four straight road games.
“We needed to go somewhere and win and gain confidence from it. I think that game will go a long way for us,” Self said.
The Jayhawks, who took the day off Monday, now will begin preparation for Friday’s first-round Big 12 Conference tournament game. KU will meet the winner of Thursday’s Missouri-Texas A&M game. Tipoff for Friday’s quarterfinal is 8:30 p.m. in Dallas.
“I think your preparation time in practice should be cut way down,” Self said, noting, “we will do very little this week. We will practice, but do very little to try and save the guys’ legs as much as possible because we are limited in our depth situation.”
The Jayhawks remain a banged-up team.
David Padgett, J.R. Giddens and Bryant Nash all have foot injuries, while Wayne Simien has a lingering groin strain.
Also, Jeff Graves and Keith Langford have been slowed by knee injuries.
  Simien solid as a rock Jayhawks still savoring season-ending win at MU 6Sports video: Padgett’s last-minute shot rocks Mizzou Hear Bill: March 8 Big 12 coaches teleconference |
Langford, who suffered some cartilage damage after banging his right knee Feb. 29 against Oklahoma, likely will need postseason surgery.
“Our health is not great,” Self said. “Keith didn’t practice all last week. He has a bruised knee that may need some attention after the season.
“Wayne felt good today. J.R. has a bad foot that is well-documented. David’s ankle will be sore. He can play through that. It’s something a lot of guys have to fight through.”
Of Langford, who has had some swelling in the knee, Self said: “I thought he played great Sunday. I think it really helped him to get his first three shots down. People talk about the dunk he had, the different things he did well. I thought defensively it was as well as he’s played all year. He was terrific on
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Moody rewarded: Walk-on Christian Moody, who had three rebounds and blocked a shot while playing nine minutes Sunday, has been on scholarship the second semester.
“He’s been on scholarship the entire second semester,” Self said on his radio show. “I didn’t want to make a big deal about that, and Christian hasn’t made a big deal about it. It doesn’t mean he’ll remain on scholarship. We’ll re-evaluate when we get to it. He and his family are aware of that.”
KU entered the season with 12 players on scholarship, Moody notching the 13th.
KU, which loses two players and is bringing in three scholarship recruits, has filled 13 scholarship allotments for next season.
“How about this guy?” Self said of Moody. “Against Nebraska he plays 20 minutes and does a great job on (Brian) Conklin. Against Missouri … we don’t win the game unless he gives us good minutes.
“I said to him today, ‘Are you having any fun?’ What a thrill it is to him. He comes here and thinks, ‘I just want to be part of the team,’ and now he’s playing games that matter. He’s giving us minutes a lot of people didn’t think were available.”
