Kansas coach Bill Self explains ‘screwy’ sequence with big man Ernest Udeh on the floor that helped beat Oklahoma State

By Matt Tait     Jan 2, 2023

article image Nick Krug
Kansas forward Jalen Wilson (10) and Kansas center Ernest Udeh Jr. (23) celebrate after the final buzzer in the Jayhawks' 69-67 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022 at Allen Fieldhouse.

For the past 30 years, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self has won a whole bunch of games and made quite a name for himself by showing an elite understanding of the game of basketball.

That’s what made a comment from Self, shortly after last Saturday’s win over Oklahoma State, more than a little noteworthy.

The comment was in reference to the final sequence of [the 69-67 win over OSU,][1] which featured KU twice turning away Oklahoma State’s attempts to tie it.

The fact that freshman big man Ernest Udeh Jr. was on the floor for both of them was at least a little surprising, given that Udeh had not played a single second all afternoon prior to the last two possessions, which came inside the final 2 seconds.

The first came with 1.1 seconds remaining, but the clock initially showed 0.3 seconds. Both Self and OSU coach Mike Boynton said after the game that, in that moment, they had to first proceed with their plans assuming that the clock would remain where it was.

So Self subbed Udeh in to put one of his tallest and longest players on the floor to disrupt the OSU player inbounding the ball.

After he did, the officials completed their review of the situation and put 1.1 seconds on the clock.

That was significant because, as many of you surely know, that amount of time allows a player to catch and shoot. With 0.3 seconds to play — or fewer — it has to be a tip-in to count.

Oklahoma State drew up a beautiful play — Boynton said it was the first time they had run it all season — and Udeh’s positioning on the baseline allowed it to work perfectly.

Rather than putting his body at an angle to take away any passes to the paint, he defended it straight up, with his chest facing that of the player inbounding the ball. That allowed the pass to zip through the lane clean to a cutting Bryce Thompson, who would have tied the game with a point-blank layup if not for a block from behind by KU’s Kevin McCullar Jr.

Self noted after the game that the rules say Udeh could not be subbed out after being subbed in without play being started or a timeout being called. Neither side called timeout, so Udeh was out there for the critical play.

Here’s where it gets crazy. The block by McCullar landed out of bounds with 0.3 seconds showing on the clock. That gave the Cowboys one more chance, but, again, this time it would need to be a tip-in to tie it instead of a catch-and-shoot situation.

At that point, Self had exactly what he wanted, with Udeh defending the inbounds pass.

Not only did he defend it, he actually tipped the pass when the OSU player let it go. As soon as he did, the game was over and the officials called the game immediately.

“This is how screwy basketball is,” Self began after the win. “There’s 0.3 on the clock, so it can only be a tip. So, you put Ernest in, thinking it’s only going to be 0.3 and then there’s 1.1 and you can’t sub him out. … He’s never defended that and he let the ball go across the baseline. Not his fault. He’s never done it. He was just put in there to help throw off the lob pass. When it was 0.3 the second time, he deflected it and the game was over. Basketball’s crazy. If you really get into intricate details, so much of it’s just good fortune or bad fortune. It took us a long time to catch a break today, but caught a couple there late.”

The win moved KU to 12-1 overall and 1-0 in Big 12 play and Kansas will head to Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday night for an 8 p.m. tipoff on ESPN2 with Texas Tech in their conference road opener.

[1]: https://www2.kusports.com/news/2022/dec/31/strong-2nd-half-surge-leads-4th-ranked-kansas-past/

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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.