MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When West Virginia’s Bob Huggins supplied Bill Self with a pullover during Monday night’s pregame meetup, the Kansas coach changed out of his typical suit jacket and went casual.
“Coach walked in the dressing room before the game and said, ‘Guys, don’t laugh at me, but this is what I’m wearing,’” said Jayhawks guard Devonte’ Graham.
Under the guise of “you should be able to have a little fun coaching,” Self stuck with the pullover even after Kansas trailed by 13 points at the half.
The resulting comeback that led to a 71-66 victory probably won’t convince Self to keep mimicking Huggins’ attire, which even featured a Little General convenience store logo on the sleeve.
“He made me look like I was a NASCAR driver,” Self said.
Ahmad re-acclimating
In his second game back from a half-season suspension, Esa Ahmad played 28 minutes, scoring 15 points that were offset by five turnovers.
“I’m working my way in. I feel OK but I’m not where I was at,” he said. “Still getting in rhythm.”
Konate dominates with defense early
On a shot-swatting surge, Konate blocked five shots in the opening 12 minutes. He kept challenging shots throughout but produced three goaltending calls.
On one of those he inserted his hand through the bottom of the basket, illegally deflecting a lay-in by Mitch Lightfoot that put Kansas up 69-66 48 seconds remaining.
“The first one wasn’t a goaltend,” he said. “The last two were goaltends.”
Quotable
“Wasn’t happy with his attitude.” — Huggins explaining why freshman Teddy Allen did not play
“We caught some breaks, because 5-of-27 — that’s not all defense. That’s them missing some open looks, too.” — Self on West Virginia’s brutally cold shooting from 3-point range.
“In practice we played against seven guys, because their pressure is like no other.” — Graham on the Jayhawks’ one-day preparation for “Press Virginia.”
“Our pressure sucked. Terrible.” — Huggins on his team forcing only four second-half turnovers and 13 overall