“He said he was a little nervous, but he didn’t show it. That’s the best part about it,” Cliff’s papa, Clifton Terry, said with a smile after his son scored a team-leading 14 points off 6-of-8 shooting, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots while playing 17 minutes in KU’s 85-53 exhibition rout of Washburn.

Nerves were not apparent as the 6-foot-8, 240-pounder made an immediate impact after coming off the bench 4 minutes, 46 seconds into the contest. In five minutes, he scored eight points and grabbed three rebounds. Alexander’s second basket followed his aggressive rebound of a Brannen Greene miss; his third bucket an offensive board of a Perry Ellis miss.

“I had the butterflies going into the game. I loosened up when the game started,” Alexander said. “They weren’t that bad (during the day). I dealt with it pretty well. I just tried to keep my mind off it. Coach told me to come out and play my hardest and that’s what I did,” Alexander added.

Alexander had just one foul, getting whistled after trying to block the shot of Jeremy Lickteig. The fans howled their disapproval after the whistle.

“I think it was a clean block,” Alexander said with a smile.

Obviously it was an enjoyable opening for Alexander, who was voted preseason Big 12 freshman of the year with Texas’ Myles Turner after arriving at KU as the No. 4-rated player in Rivals.com’s Class of 2014.

“It ain’t even started,” Alexander said, asked how much better he can get. “By the end of the season, I think potentially I’ll reach my peak. 

“Better post moves, getting stronger, consistent jump shot,” he added, asked what he needs to work on.

KU coach Bill Self was impressed with Alexander’s opening performance.

“Cliff had a good line,” Self said. “He goes after the ball pretty well. He’s becoming a better outlet passer, doing some good things that way. I’m getting confidence to have him in there. He tries so hard. Our two best rebounders are Landen (Lucas, six boards, nine points) and Cliff. That doesn’t bode well for Jamari (Traylor, four boards, three points) and Perry (one board, nine points). They’ve got to get where they’re as good of rebounders as those guys. I want those two guys to attack the ball a lot better.”

Alexander hit two of four free throws on a night KU made 16 of 32.

“Cliff was good. He missed a couple free throws (2 of 4), but the two he made he looked like he had a soft touch,” Self said.

Dad Clifton said Cliff will work tirelessly on all aspects of his game.

“The kid has a lot of work to do, but he was looking real good for a first game,” Clifton said proudly. “The coach is doing a great job with him. He’s got a lot of room to work, so we need to work it.”

Clifton will be cheering all the way.

“I’m not going to miss any games; you’ll see us often,” he said.

As far as KU’s other newcomers … Devonté Graham scored seven points off 3-of-5 shooting with three assists and three turnovers; Kelly Oubre Jr. had nine points off 4-of-7 shooting with four boards and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk six points off 2-of-5 three-point shooting with three rebounds. Arkansas transfer Hunter Mickelson scored six points and had four rebounds and two blocks. Soph Frank Mason had 13 points, seven assists and six boards.

“I don’t think we’re where we are capable of being,” Graham said of the rookies. “We’re young. We’ve got to grow and go through the freshman pains, just keep our heads up. Coach will get on us. He expects us to make mistakes and keep playing and go to the next play.”

Self, whose team blazed to a 42-13 halftime lead, said: “I was pleased with everybody’s effort. We didn’t play great, but I was certainly pleased with the effort. Washburn scored 13 points the first half. That’s pretty good. I thought we looked pretty good defensively at times the first half. Second half I didn’t think so but first half I did.”

KU will meet Emporia State at 7 p.m., a week from today, in Allen.