‘Let’s have some fun’: With UTEP defeated, Kansas basketball can turn its attention toward Missouri
Jordan Guskey
KANSAS CITY — Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self is sitting inside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, reflecting Tuesday on the victory against UTEP, and he stops himself.
Responding to a question about whether there may have been concern his players would overlook the Miners (4-4), with Missouri looming, Self admits there was. He brings up the phrase “trap game,” before saying he talked to the team about not looking ahead too soon to the renewal of the rivalry with the Tigers (5-4). But Self adds he doesn’t think it was a trap game, explaining it instead as a contest that simply comes before something so significant.
And while one could take that to mean Kansas’ matchup with UTEP was a trap game, what’s clear is that the Jayhawks (7-1) don’t have to weigh the present and future in that way anymore. Like the fans they saw already camping out Monday for the Missouri game Saturday, a group Self expects only to grow, they can dedicate themselves to preparing for the Tigers. The time before that schedule 2:15 p.m. tip inside Allen Fieldhouse is winding down, and a 78-52 win against UTEP is in the past.
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“I would assume it’s going to be pretty good,” said Self, speaking to the atmosphere he anticipates seeing. “I would assume that there won’t be a lot of empty seats. It’s the best game on our schedule. You talk about Kentucky or Baylor or Texas or this one, this is the best game on our schedule at least from a fan participation and from a player participation. We haven’t played them in nine years and back when we did play them it was the best game on our schedule.”
Super-senior forward Mitch Lightfoot said after topping the Miners, who he had eight points and four rebounds against, that he’d be lying if he said he didn’t think it was hard not to look ahead to facing Missouri. He thinks everyone is excited for the matchup, for the rivalry being back.
Senior guard Ochai Agbaji said it was a little bit difficult not to look to far into the future, considering how big of a week they’re in after the game this past Friday against St. John’s. And then, not far removed from his 23-point, five-rebound performance against UTEP, he touched on the importance of never looking past a game because that’s when someone underestimates an opponent.
Junior guard Christian Braun, who had 20 points and six rebounds against the Miners, admitted he was already looking forward to playing Missouri. He knows he had to focus on facing UTEP, but it’s hard not to look ahead considering he’d seen the fans who were already camping out for the game.
According to Agbaji, former Kansas players Sherron Collins and Jamari Traylor both visited the locker room Tuesday and talked about how much the rivalry means to them. Traylor played more recently for the Jayhawks, while Collins was a member of the team that won a national title under Self. Agbaji understands how much this means to his program, Kansas alumni and both universities.
“It’s just Missouri,” said Braun, whose family has deep ties to the rivalry. “Like, that’s why I’m excited for it. The rivalry’s a lot bigger than me and my family, so we’ve watched this game growing up and seeing how intense the rivalry really is. So, yeah, it’s big for my family but obviously excited to play with Kansas across my chest and get a win.”
Agbaji said: “I didn’t grow up a KU-Missouri fan because I had moved here from Milwaukee … I’ve known the rivalry. I know the border wars. So, it should be a really fun game, that’s all I’ve got to say.”
Lightfoot said: “Let’s have some fun on Saturday.”
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The last edition of this rivalry saw Kansas win 87-86 in overtime on Feb. 25, 2012 inside Allen Fieldhouse. So much time has passed since then, but not enough to have the emotions of it leave Self’s mind.
How much Saturday’s contest lives up to what the previous matchup became, will be determined in time. That 2012 game already has its place in the rivalry’s history.
“It was pry the most emotional home game that I’ve ever been a part of,” Self said. “There was pressure on us to win that game and we didn’t handle it very well. And so, but then when the lid came off we played pretty well down the stretch. But that was college basketball at its best. The OU game at home that was three overtimes — but I don’t know if there’s another game like those two. Those two were the best games.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.