Austin, Texas — With ballots due this weekend, Kansas junior Jalen Wilson made one final statement in his player of the year candidacy in the Big 12 Conference on Saturday, during the Jayhawks’ 75-59 loss at No. 9 Texas.
Wilson, who entered the day leading the Big 12 in both scoring (19.6 points per game) and rebounding (8.3), as well as double-doubles, with nine, finished 23 points on 7-of-18 shooting, moving his season average to 19.74 points per outing while starting all 31 Kansas games.
Asked this week if he thought his star forward was worthy of the conference’s player of the year honors, KU coach Bill Self said there was no question about it.
“In my mind, he is,” Self said.
League rules dictate that coaches cannot vote for their own players for these types of awards — the Associated Press winner will be revealed Tuesday — and Self views it as his responsibility to cast his vote without Wilson in mind.
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Box score: Texas 75, Kansas 59
Photo Gallery: Kansas basketball at Texas
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“I can’t vote for Jalen, and it’s my job, as I see it, to vote for the guy who should be player of the year if it’s not Jalen,” Self said. “Not to vote for somebody that won’t be player of year to help Jalen.”
Self added: “I don’t think I have campaigned for my guys to win an award in which the other nine coaches vote on. I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. Coaches have their own perspective (on) what they value most. I know for me what (Wilson) does (is what) I value most.”
Earlier Saturday, Wilson was named as one of 15 players nationally on the national ballot for the John R. Wooden Award, given annually to college basketball’s best player.
Wilson also landed on the Oscar Robertson Award semifinalist list earlier in the week. The Robertson Award is college basketball’s annual player of the year honor handed out by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
The final Saturday of the Big 12 season featured a few upsets, with West Virginia’s win over Kansas State and Oklahoma taking down TCU the biggest among them.
As such, the seeds are now set for next week’s Big 12 tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kansas is the top seed and will open play at 2 p.m. Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s 8/9 matchup between West Virignia and Texas Tech.
Texas is the 2 seed, Kansas State edged Baylor for the No. 3 seed and the Bears will take on Iowa State in Thursday’s 4/5 game, with the winner taking on the winner of KU’s Thursday game.
TCU is the No. 6 seed and will play Kansas State in the quarterfinals; Oklahoma State got the No. 7 seed and will face 10th-seeded Oklahoma in Wednesday’s other Day-1 matchup.
It remains to be seen how many Big 12 teams will make the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is revealed on March 12, but KU’s Kevin McCullar Jr. said he thought the league was ready for the next few weeks.
“I think all Big 12 teams that get in the tournament are going to do great in the tournament,” he said. “We’re definitely all going to be battle tested and ready to play some new teams.”
With the Jayhawks struggling and trailing by double digits early in the second half, Self went to sophomore big man Zach Clemence off the bench for a new look.
It marked Clemence’s first game action since he injured his knee in a loss at Iowa State on Feb. 4, and his time on the floor was short-lived.
Clemence finished with two points, three fouls and two turnovers in four minutes.
None of the KU big men fared too well in the regular season finale, with KJ Adams finished with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting in 29 minutes and Ernest Udeh and Zuby Ejiofor combined for one point, one rebound and one foul in roughly eight minutes combined.
Saturday’s game was the first ever for Kansas and the brand-new Moody Center, a state-of-the-art arena across the street from the old Erwin Center, designed as much for concerts and other live events as basketball.
The $375 million venue, which feels and looks as rich as that sounds, seats just under 11,000 for basketball games and can convert into a 15,000-seat arena for concerts. During Saturday’s game, those extra seats were covered by massive projector screens on the upper level that flashed graphics throughout the game.
“I thought it was really good,” Self said of the atmosphere on Saturday. “I thought it was really loud. I don’t know how they pipe in the noise or whatever they do here, but I actually thought it was a really good atmosphere.”
Moody first opened for concerts last April and has been the home to Texas men’s and women’s basketball for the entire 2022-23 season. The Moody Foundation, which has supported museums, libraries, universities and hospitals throughout Texas for decades, donated $130 million for the new venue. Hollywood actor and UT alum Matthew McConaughey, who is dubbed as the Longhorns’ Minister of Culture, also was in on the planning and execution of the project.
The court runs north and south and his surrounded by students at 270 degrees. McConaughey dubbed the student section “The Corral,” and there’s also a section above the north end of the floor that is dubbed “The Upper Corral.” That area is standing room only and contributed greatly to Texas’ average attendance number this season (10,943) being larger than the arena’s capacity of 10,763.
Saturday’s loss ended a three-game Kansas winning streak on the road. The Jayhawks finished the regular season 10-4 in games played outside of Allen Fieldhouse and 7-4 in true road games. All four true road losses came in Big 12 play… The Jayhawks now lead the all-time series with Texas, 37-13, including an 11-10 record in Austin. The Jayhawks have lost three in a row on Texas’ home floor.