The top-seeded Kansas men’s basketball team will have to wait a couple more days to find out who it will play in Thursday’s opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.
And KU coach Bill Self said being forced to have a little more patience has its advantages and disadvantages.
The difficult part, Self said, is that the Midwest region’s No. 1 seed will have two full days of prep time without knowing exactly what it needs to work on.
No. 16 seeds Texas Southern (18-12) and Texas A&M Corpus Christi (23-11) will square off at 5:40 p.m. Tuesday in a First Four game in Dayton, Ohio, with the winner earning the trip to Fort Worth to face the 28-6 Jayhawks.
Naturally, KU will spend some of the time between now and then working on both teams and the Kansas coaching staff also will watch and scout that game on Tuesday night.
But having to prepare for two teams, even if only in part, is a tougher task than having to lock in on just one.
The set-up does have its advantages, too, though.
“If there is a positive about it, it forces you to look at the second game first,” Self said. “So, if you’re fortunate enough to win the first one, maybe we can get an extra day in right now (for a potential second opponent).”
That game, which would be played in Fort Worth on Saturday, would come against the winner of the 8-9 matchup between San Diego State and Creighton.
So while the Jayhawks wait to see which of the 16 seeds it will face on Thursday, they’ll be able to take a quick peek at their potential second-round foes during the next two days. At this point, Self said Sunday, it’s basically a one-day prep for both games.
Regardless of who they face, KU sophomore Jalen Wilson said the Jayhawks would move forward with one major point of emphasis.
“Just respecting our opponents,” he said. “I think we learned, playing in the Big 12, that the bottom team can still beat the top team any night. … We feel great. Coming off two championships, a great weekend, playing great teams, we’re looking forward to playing in this.”
Self said super-senior forward Mitch Lightfoot was “day to day” heading into the first week of the NCAA Tournament and that he was dealing with a sprained left knee.
The injury occurred during Saturday’s Big 12 championship game, when Lightfoot had his legs taken out from him under the basket. He left the game and went to the locker room, emerging a few minutes later in warm-up pants and sandals. Self on Sunday made it sound like he did not think that would be Lightfoot’s last appearance as a Jayhawk.
“Mitch is playing the best ball maybe of his career right now,” Self said. “And I know he’ll do everything humanly possible to put himself in a position to be out there on Thursday.”
Self said Sunday he was confident that freshmen forwards KJ Adams and Zach Clemence would step up while Lightfoot works to recover.
“He may be limited up until then or whatnot,” Self said. “But I’m confident in those other kids. They will get his reps this week, so we’ll see what happens.”
Ranked by a handful of outlets as the nation’s toughest conference all season, six Big 12 Conference programs heard their names called during Sunday’s selection show on CBS.
Three of the six were among the tourney’s top seeds, with Baylor joining Kansas on the 1 line in the East and Texas Tech earning a No. 3 seed in the West.
Texas received a No. 6 seed in the East and TCU earned a 9 seed in the South. Iowa State, as an 11, joins KU in the Midwest.
Kansas State and West Virginia were not expected to receive bids. Oklahoma State, which is serving a one-year postseason ban was ineligible. And Oklahoma, which missed out on reaching the Big 12 tournament title game by a single point, was considered a bubble team.
“To me, OU deserved to be in the field,” Self said Sunday. “But there were more teams this year that you could make a case for being in the field, that were legitimate bubble teams, than maybe some other years. So I feel bad for their team.”
A handful of teams that feature players of local interest made their way into the bracket on Sunday.
Former Lawrence High standout Zeke Mayo and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits are in as a No. 13 seed in the Midwest region. Mayo’s club will take on No. 4 Providence in the first round on Thursday at 11:40 a.m. in Buffalo, New York.
Former Kansas forward Silvio De Sousa, now in his final season of college basketball at Chattanooga, also is in the NCAA Tournament field.
Chattanooga, which won the Southern Conference tournament title, is also a No. 13 seed. They’ll play in the South region against No. 4 seed Illinois on Friday at 5:50 p.m. in Pittsburgh.
Part of De Sousa’s job in that one will be to slow down Illinois big man Kofi Cockburn, the only player in Division I basketball averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.
De Sousa is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since his freshman season in 2018.
“It’s so good to see him end on a high note and have a good taste in his mouth leaving college basketball,” Self said Sunday. “So, yeah, I’m very happy for Silvio. I’m also happy for Charlie (Moore) and Tristan (Enaruna), too. That’s big bonus right there.”
Moore made the field with the 10th-seeded Miami Hurricanes and will play USC on Friday afternoon. Enaruna and Iowa State will play sixth-seeded LSU on Friday evening.
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