Bill Self reflects on KU basketball’s ‘toughness’ in Maui event ahead of Tuesday game

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self remains disappointed his Jayhawks (5-1) did not play to their No. 1 ranking and win last week’s eight-team 2023 Maui Invitational.

But the letdown from a 73-59 semifinal loss to then-No. 4 Marquette on Tuesday in Honolulu was all but erased in the coach’s mind following a bounce-back 69-60 victory over then No. 7-Tennessee in Wednesday’s third-place game.

Self on Monday — three days after his team’s return from paradise — put in perspective how well his team, which has dropped to No. 5 in this week’s top 25, played against the Volunteers (4-2).

Tennessee slipped from No. 7 to No. 10 in the AP Top 25. Marquette currently is No. 3 while Maui champion Purdue is No. 1.

“The game against Tennessee is one of the best wins we’ve had here in a long time. The Tennessee game … from a toughness standpoint, we haven’t had too many teams pull that off since I’ve been at Kansas,” 21st-year KU coach Self said Monday at a news conference held in advance of Tuesday’s game against Eastern Illinois (7 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse).

“I mean Juan (Harris, five points) didn’t make any shots. KJ (Adams, whose mom died three days before the start of tourney) hadn’t slept in four days and was totally spent. Kevin (McCullar) is sick as a dog (with a sinus problem) and you’ve got a situation you are playing 13 hours after you just finished (the Marquette game).

“That showed me something. Tennessee played on 16 hours (between Game 2 and Game 3), which is still ridiculously hard. That showed me something from a toughness standpoint about what we have in us. Tennessee is one of the toughest teams to play against all year.”

Self spoke extensively of the win over the Vols at Monday’s media availability.

“You’ve got a lot of things going on and somehow rally to beat a team that could easily win the SEC,” Self said. “That was a big win for us and a gutsy win to be honest with you. I didn’t think we played well against Marquette at all. I also think Marquette is more connected, further along (as a) team than we are at the same stage, too. Even though I didn’t think we played well, the end result wasn’t something you say, ‘Oh my gosh.’ The fact we didn’t play well is something that needs be addressed. But I thought that was a pretty good learning experience for our guys.”

Self had some words of praise Monday for senior center Hunter Dickinson, who made the Maui all-tournament team. The 7-foot-2 Alexandria, Virginia, native scored 17 points with 20 rebounds in the Tennessee game. Earlier he had 13 points and eight rebounds against Marquette and 31 points and 11 rebounds in an opening win over Chaminade.

Dickinson leads the country in rebounding at 12.7 per game.

“I actually think he looks like a different guy rebounding the ball,” said Self, who was not all that impressed with Dickinson’s rebounding during the exhibition season.

“He is getting a lot of balls. You could say, ‘Well, some are falling his way.’ He’s going and getting some in traffic, too,” Self continued. “I think he’s leading the country in rebounding as we speak. Who knows if that can maintain at this level? He’s averaging 12.3 a game, but if you just look at the three hardest games we played he’s averaging 16 or 17.”

Dickinson had 21 rebounds in a win over Kentucky, 20 vs. Tennessee and eight vs. Marquette. That’s 16.3 a game.

“Hunter’s stats based on who we’ve played have been very impressive,” Self said.

On the negative side, senior Nick Timberlake has converted just 4 of 15 3s for the Jayhawks.

“Sample size is way too small right now,” Self said. “Plus he got his bell rung and played two minutes the last game.”

Timberlake played just three minutes against Tennessee after getting hit in the head while diving for the basketball. Self said he’s practiced the last two days and should be able to play against (3-4) Eastern Illinois.

Also, Self said McCullar is OK and should be able to play. The Panthers this season have lost to Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Illinois State and Miami (Ohio). They have defeated Eureka College, Monmouth and Coppin State.

“He’s not shot it as well as he’s capable of shooting it, but he will,” Self said of Timberlake.

Of freshman guard Jamari McDowell, who hit two 3s and had seven points against Tennessee, Self said: “I think he’s got as much moxie as any of the young guys and is as confident as any of them. plus he didn’t try to do more than he’s ready to do now, which is move the ball, guard, rebound and if wide open shoot it. I thought he did well. We put him in against Kentucky with four minutes left in a tie game, we end up winning. He did some good things in Maui, primarily the Tennessee game. He played 26 minutes. It’s great to see him get some confidence that way.”

Self sees no significance in KU entering the EIU game ranked No. 5 instead of 1.

“I don’t know what rankings matter in November in college basketball,” Self said. “Football is different. Football, if you lose two in September you are done. This is not like that at all. If it was like that then obviously you wouldn’t schedule like we have. I think we’ve gone 2-1 in our big games so far. I don’t think that’s poor at all. I think we feel good about doing that.”

After EIU, KU will meet No. 4 UConn (6-0) at 8 p.m. Friday at Allen.