The Day After: Jayhawks back on top

By Matt Tait     Mar 13, 2016

Kansas guard Wayne Selden Jr. (1) celebrates forcing a turnover during the second half, Saturday, March 12, 2016 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

With his Big 12 tourney champions hat on his head and a fresh blue T-Shirt with the stickers still on it pulled over his jersey, KU junior Landen Lucas talked in the winning locker room after Saturday’s 81-71 victory over West Virginia at Sprint Center about this team’s mindset heading into the tournament that really counts.

With a free mind and glowing smile, Lucas talked about this team not really feeling any pressure right now. The Jayhawks are excited instead of scared, eager instead of hopeful. Being on such a roll and entering the tournament as the likely No. 1 overall seed as the Jayhawks are expected to be when the bracket is announced later today, Lucas said, puts Kansas in the best position it can possibly be in to accomplish what it wants to accomplish.

That, of course, is picking up a couple more hats and T-Shirts in the next few weeks.

Said Lucas: If you would’ve told us that we’d be Big 12 champs, Big 12 tournament champs, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament and on a 14-game winning streak heading into it, we would’ve taken that in a second.

Now, he added, it’s just about handling business.

Kansas guard Devonte' Graham (4) flashes a big smile as time runs out in the Jayhawks' 81-71 win over West Virginia, Saturday, March 12, 2016 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

The 30-4 Jayhawks have handled a lot of business during the second half of their season and did so on Saturday night. It’s not like Saturday’s game was easy, by the way. Far from it. West Virginia missed shots but still stayed within striking distance for most of the game. Every time the Mountaineers tried to threaten, KU got a big play from one of its many playmakers. Often that was Devonte’ Graham, who played out of his mind, but Wayne Selden and Lucas both made their share of big plays, as well.

There are plenty of people out there who will say that taking such a long winning streak into the Big Dance is a dangerous thing. But I don’t think that’s the case with this KU team. This group has gained confidence by the day, swagger by the second and really seems to believe it can still play better.

Self has said it, Lucas said it again Saturday night and it’s clear everyone on this team believes it.

Can you imagine if they actually do it?

Quick takeaway
————–

Kansas head coach Bill Self reacts after being doused with confetti by his players as the Jayhawks celebrate following their 81-71 win over West Virginia, Saturday, March 12, 2016 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

This team is ready. No doubt. The Jayhawks have the pieces, the depth, the talent, the balance, the coaching, the hunger…. Need me to go on? I thought about this during the Big 12 title game and refrained from Tweeting it for fear of bringing a nasty backlash my way if KU choked. But I don’t know how you can watch this team and not think they’re going to make a deep tourney run.

Three reasons to smile
———————-

**1 – It’s starting to get a redundant, but until he slows his roll, Devonte’ Graham is always going to show up on this list.** The sophomore guard and his fearless nature showed up again big time on Saturday night, helping lead Kansas to a Big 12 tourney title. Graham scored 27 points, made 5 of 6 three-pointers and was perfect (10-for-10) at the free throw line. But more important than that was the fact that he added four steals, five rebounds and three assists, all in just 34 minutes. There’s no task too tall for Graham right now. And he just might be the most confident player in college basketball.

**2 – KU just keeps scoring.** There have been stretches during several games in the past couple of weeks when KU’s offense looked pretty ho-hum. But rather than letting that destroy their confidence and get them out of their game, the Jayhawks have been able to keep their heads and just keep firing. So many different guys can score in so many different ways and this team, perhaps better than most in recent memory, really seems to understand the concept of feeding the hot hand and finding the open shooter. KU scored 48 points in the second half and that was while protecting a lead. This team loves to stay in attack mode and you couldn’t ask for a better trait heading into the NCAA Tournament.

**3 – We’ll see if this continues (and there’s no reason to think it won’t) but Bill Self sure deserves some credit for his managing of this team.** Not just for the meeting with the four leaders that helped inspire the move to more time for Landen Lucas but also because he really has these guys playing loose and for fun. His mantra of play for pleasure not pressure is pure genius and, for a guy who has drawn criticism for tightening up at times, especially in the NCAA Touranment, this mentality and mindset, should it stick, could be huge. The have fun and let ‘er rip demeanor served KU well in the Big 12 tournament and that should be a great primer for what’s ahead.

West Virginia forward Devin Williams (41) takes his time coming down from the rim after a dunk against Kansas during the first half, Saturday, March 12, 2016 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Three reasons to sigh
———————

**1 – Devin Williams is a beast, and there aren’t many out there like him, but his monster day again showed that KU could be vulnerable to playing against a team with serious size.** The Jayhawks were out-rebounded 32-27 and 12-5 on the offensive glass.

**2 – Mason, who already was dealing with an injured foot that almost kept him out of Saturday’s game, took another beating** and finished just 2 of 8 from the floor. This is never a good sign for a team’s starting guard, but Graham’s emergence sure has made it easier to handle for the Jayhawks. The pressure that was on Mason’s shoulders last season is virtually non-existent this season and the junior guard is free to play off the ball, pick his spots to make plays and help the offense flow rather than being asked to carry it. He played 38 minutes and dished seven assists on Saturday, so it’s not like the 2-for-8 shooting made for a total dud of a night.

**3 – Granted, West Virginia does go by the moniker Press Virginia. And I actually thought KU handled the Mountaineers’ press pretty well for most of this game. But the Jayhawks still turned it over 20 times,** with five different players coughing it up three times or more. Jamari Traylor (3 turnovers in 12 minutes) and Brannen Greene (2 in 9). A big part of that was because of the style and pace of the game and this is not a huge concern because KU won’t face many teams from here on out that play like the Mountaineers and the Jayhawks are well equipped to carve up most average presses.

One for the road
—————-

Kansas guard Frank Mason III (0) tries to fight through a trap from West Virginia guard Jevon Carter (2) and forward Nathan Adrian (11) during the first half, Saturday, March 12, 2016 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

KU’s third win in three days that delivered a Big 12 tournament title…

• Made Kansas 30-4, extending its winning streak to 14 games…

• Gave Kansas 30 wins for the 13th season, including five of the last seven years…

• Made KU 13-4 in games away from Allen Fieldhouse (7-3 in true road games and 6-1 on neutral floors)…

• Made Kansas 10-2 in Big 12 Championship title games and 14-6 in all-time league tournament title tilts…

By the Numbers: Kansas 81, West Virginia 71

• Improved Kansas to 71-26 in league tournament play, 41-10 at the Big 12 Championship…

• Made Kansas 31-6 all-time in Sprint Center, including 4-0 this season…

• Gave Kansas a 6-3 all-time series advantage against West Virginia…

• Made Bill Self 382-82 while at Kansas, 589-187 all-time and 36-11 in conference tournament play, 27-6 while at Kansas in the Big 12 Championship…

• Made Kansas 2,183-835 all-time.

Next up
——-

The Jayhawks head back to Lawrence to get ready to find out their NCAA Tournament fate on Selection Sunday. The team will gather together to eat and watch the selection show, which is slated for two hours this season and will begin at 4:30 p.m. on CBS.

— See what people were saying about the Big 12 title game during KUsports.com’s live coverage


More news and notes from KU’s Big 12 postseason crown





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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.