I admit I was dreading Monday’s KU-Texas game.

Normally, coming off a terrible loss like Iowa State’s destruction of the Jayhawks Saturday, I would be fired up for a Big Monday home game. It would be a chance to wash away the bad taste of the loss with a big, loud crowd and a W.

But I also watched a big chunk of the second half of the Longhorns’ come-from-behind win at Kansas State over the weekend. That got me super worried.[1]

Texas is long, athletic, and tough. Like they usually are. But they play with a confidence and swagger I hadn’t seen in a Texas team in years. I could tell from their body language that they were going to win, no matter what K-State did.

I figured the combination of a team that is a bad physical matchup for KU and also the hottest team in the conference with a KU team that is injured both physically and psychologically would equal a Longhorns win and end to KU’s Big 12 title hopes.

Thus I was both surprised and pleased that KU jumped out to a quick lead, weathered multiple Texas runs, and eventually won by eight.

There was a lot to be happy about. KU scored 88 points despite only hitting two 3 pointers and with the Big 12’s leading scorer only scoring two points. Joseph Yesufu finally had a game where he contributed enough that you wanted him on the court. Ernest Udeh continued his growth. Gradey Dick is still struggling to get open from behind the arc, but battled to tally a team-high 21 points. The Jayhawks out-rebounded the bigger Longhorns.

Perhaps most importantly DaJuan Harris was turned up, or turnt up as the kids say, from the beginning. He’s generally pretty steady in demeanor. Lately he had seemed low energy. I still think that knock to the head he took three weeks ago had some long term effects. Anyway, last night he was as fired up as I’ve seen him, and from the jump. He was a demon on defense and hit some huge shots late.

Oh, and he threw this ridiculous pass.

It was a very good team performance on a night when Jalen Wilson was totally shut down. Anything less would have ended with a loss.

The stats ESPN flashed after the game were staggering. Bill Self is now 36–0 in Big Monday home games. He is also 11–1 against top 5 opponents at home, the highest win percentage in the history of the game.[2]

I told some friends yesterday that this felt like one of those games that would require Self to find the right strings to pull and the right mental buttons to push to get a wounded team focused and able to win. It reminded me of the Baylor game two years ago, when a mercurial KU team ended the Bears’ hopes for an undefeated season. Or the Texas game back in 2016 when Cliff Alexander had just been suspended and Perry Ellis was injured, yet KU hammered a Longhorns squad that had three seven footers.

I think Self did do some smart things sticking with a small team late that put Texas’ bigs in bad spots defensively. But that was more a function of his guards playing well than something strategically brilliant Self did.

It was mostly Harris being aggressive and finishing. Kevin McCullar looking to get to the rim instead of bricking 3’s. And the bench turning in their best collective game of the year.

Ah, the bench. That was huge. Yesufu has maddened KU fans since he arrived because we all saw his highlight reels from his years at Drake, and he’s never played anything like that at KU. Even when he had a chance to show his raw physical gifts he looked like he was wearing a weight vest. Last night he was 5–9 from the field with five rebounds and zero turnovers. He still mixed in a dumb play or two, but he was a huge positive.

I wondered if MJ Rice would ever play again after he failed to get back on an Iowa State break Saturday and gave up two offensive rebounds and a basket on the play when Zach Clemence may have destroyed his knee to try to stop one of those layups. Rice wasn’t great last night, but at least he could stay on the court for more than 30 seconds at a time. If the ESPN box score is right, he played 15 minutes, which has to be the most for him in a conference game.

With Clemence out, Bobby Pettiford injured again, and Zuby Ejiofor unable to play for a few more weeks, it was imperative that Yesefu, Udeh, and Rice be, at worst, net neutrals in the minutes they got. They each contributed big time to the dub.

It was kind of fun to see some bad blood developing late in the game. Timmy Allen never stops talking and does his best to get under everyone’s skin. He and Jalen Wilson had to be separated after Allen drew Wilson’s fourth foul on a charge. Gradey Dick and Sir’Jabari Rice had words late, and then Tyrese Hunter got involved. It would benefit everyone if the season finale between these teams in Austin was the deciding game for the Big 12.

I also loved that, after the ESPN sideline reporter shared that Allen told his teammates in a late-game huddle that they just needed two stops and two buckets and they would win because “(KU) will fall apart,” Harris immediately scored and then Allen missed two straight and KU was suddenly ahead by 10 again.

KU went through the toughest stretch of their schedule 4–4. When it began I told friends I would be thrilled with 5–3. There was a one-point loss in overtime in Manhattan in there, so I’m calling it a success. Still that one game could be the difference if Texas, Baylor, Iowa State, or KSU don’t mix in a 4–4 stretch of their own.

And KU can’t fuck it up by going 0–2 in Oklahoma next week. Even though those are road games, losing both would be a killer.

As the Big 12 title seems like a bit of a stretch at the moment, my hope for February is that KU can get, and stay, healthy; keep developing the bench; and find a way to get Gradey Dick more open looks from deep. He hasn’t shot poorly from a mechanical standpoint. To my eye his shot has gotten a little quick, but his core mechanics still look good. Many of his misses at Iowa State were in-and-out, so more luck than anything else. Still, you want a guy feeling comfortable so when he does get looks he’s just relaxing and firing instead of having that mental pressure of “I better hit this because I may not get another chance for 10 minutes.”

I think a lot of KU’s issues right now are more because the Big 12 is so strong and knows them so well. Get to March healthy and there’s no reason to think they can’t beat just about anyone they play. They are also so reliant on two guys offensively, struggle to guard at a couple spots, and lacking in size that they will be vulnerable in every NCAA game they play.

That’s looking too far ahead. I’m going to enjoy the Texas win for the next four days.

Rock Chalk, bitches.

  1. I was constantly switching between that game and the Purdue-Indiana game. Same when I had to run L over to a friends, but on SiriusXM.  ↩

  2. Twitter was later saying it is actually 10–1. I don’t know which is right. I just know both are pretty good.  ↩