Not every win is pretty. Part of the reason Bill Self is now the winningest coach in Kansas basketball history is because his teams find a way to win the ugly ones.
And Tuesday night was an ugly one.
There were missed layups, bricked threes, clanked free throws, egregious turnovers, defensive lapses and foolish fouls, but the top-ranked Jayhawks managed to take down Michigan State, 77-69, in the 14th annual Champions Classic. It was win number 591 for Self at KU, moving him past Phog Allen and into the top spot on the school’s all-time list.
“To win a lot of games, you have to win the games that you’re supposed to win, you have to win the games where you play great, but you have to somehow figure out how to win the games when you’re not your best,” Self said shortly after receiving a celebratory water bath from his players. T-shirts bearing the words “591 Kansas Victories Bill Self” were handed out to the entire team.
Asked to reflect on his achievement, Self said, “That stuff really doesn’t mean a lot to me. It’s nice, and I guess I’d rather have it than not have it, but that doesn’t really drive me by any way, shape or form. I’d much rather figure out a way to just get better through it. I’ve always thought that if you take care of your business, all those things just take care of themselves in the end.”
Kansas took care of business on Tuesday, albeit in ugly fashion. But sometimes, an ugly win can be more encouraging than a pretty one. The Jayhawks shot just 41 percent from the field and 29 percent from three. After two productive offensive outings to begin the season, Kansas had to adapt to beat Michigan State, locking in on defense, attacking the glass, getting out in transition and feeding the ball to Hunter Dickinson over and over again.
“You got to grind games out like this, especially against teams like Michigan State,” said point guard Dajuan Harris Jr., who finished with 11 points and 6 assists. “They play super hard and super fast. That was a game you have to grind out and play together in — really play through the big fella. He brought us the dub.”
Indeed he did.
What makes Kansas so dangerous is that in a game like Tuesday, when shots aren’t falling, the guards can dump it down to Dickinson and let him go to work. Extra motivated by the matchup — Dickinson still has ill feelings toward Michigan State from his days as a Michigan Wolverine — the big man erupted for 28 points, 12 rebounds and three steals. Head coach Tom Izzo elected not to double team the post and Dickinson made the Spartans pay all night. “They have doubled me in the past, so I was expecting that,” Dickinson said. “We prepared for that, so I was a little surprised when they didn’t. But I was thankful that they didn’t.”
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Seth Davis’s rankings for Week Two. Kentucky moves up, Wisconsin moves in.Izzo thought his guys executed the defensive game plan well, which focused more on containing forward KJ Adams Jr. (7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist). But Michigan State was even worse than Kansas on offense, shooting 35 percent from the field and 13 percent from three. The Jayhawks simply responded better to their futility — a sign of their maturity (second in average D-I experience, compared to 202nd for MSU, per KenPom) and versatility.
Sharpshooter Rylan Griffen, a transfer from Alabama, struggled to find his range early on, but he hit what Self called “the biggest shot of the game” in the second half, a three-pointer to put Kansas up 63-57 at the 5:44 mark. That bucket sparked a closing 17-12 run. Held scoreless for the first 30 minutes and battling foul trouble, KU guard AJ Storr had a pair of key baskets down the stretch as well.
Izzo singled out the play of guard Zeke Mayo, who drew his first start of the season after leading the Jayhawks in scoring (21 points) against North Carolina last Friday. Mayo, a transfer from South Dakota State, had just six points on 25 percent shooting, but he pitched in seven assists and 10 rebounds. “That’s a credit to Bill and his staff and how they get a kid who’s not playing well to do other things to help his team win,” Izzo said. “I thought they did a phenomenal job of that. And I give Bill a lot of credit for that.”
Senior guard Jaden Akins, Michigan State’s leading scorer heading into the evening, had just two points, one rebound and zero assists in 26 minutes. Sophomore forward Xavier Booker went scoreless and had just one rebound in 13 minutes. “Hopefully we’ll learn something from Mayo,” Izzo said. “Because I thought those were pretty impressive stats, to be that bad for a good shooter and yet do that many good things to help his team win. In fact, maybe will his team to win.”
The Spartans could draw some positives. They hung with the No. 1 team in the country despite hitting just 3 of 24 three-point attempts. Izzo hinted at perhaps giving freshman guard Kur Teng a bigger opportunity going forward in an effort to find an offensive spark.
Neither squad was at its best, but Kansas remained composed and figured out how to stay undefeated. It might have been an ugly win, but given the historical significance, it was one to relish.
“It’s really special,” Dickinson said about Self breaking the record. “He’s never going to admit it. He’s always going to try to downplay it and give off the credit, but he’s the best coach in Kansas basketball history.”
