KU basketball’s Bill Self discusses importance of recent team meeting, more before OU game

LAWRENCE — Bill Self said a coaching friend of his once told him teams that aren’t as good meet, and teams that are good practice.

This past Saturday, once Kansas returned home from its loss on the road against Iowa State, Self held a meeting with his team.

Self, the Jayhawks’ head coach, revealed Thursday he didn’t do it to talk about the X’s and O’s of the defeat. No, Self wanted to meet with his players to talk about things like culture. He thought the team was at a phase where it probably needed to talk through some things so there was no hesitation when it came to expectations and everyone understanding their roles.

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“That was good for us,” redshirt senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. said. “I knew Coach was going to get us together at some point, and yeah usually we go home right after, but he called a meeting. We all sat in there and we just had a talk, pretty much. Coach just talked with us and we talked back, pretty much, and communicated on different ways that we feel like we can be successful down the road.”

A couple days later, No. 8 Kansas topped No. 6 Texas to earn a much-needed Big 12 Conference win. Whatever was said, specifically, seems to have helped the Jayhawks (19-5, 7-4 in Big 12) move forward from that lackluster performance against the Cyclones. And this upcoming Saturday’s game against Oklahoma (12-12, 2-9 in Big 12) will present an opportunity to see to what level that success can be sustained.

Here are a few things to consider ahead of the scheduled noon tip-off against the Sooners in Norman, Oklahoma:

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Oklahoma is capable of beating Kansas

The Sooners have been struggling in recent weeks. They won their SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchup against Alabama, which is now ranked No. 3 in the nation, but that game was sandwiched by three-game losing streaks in Big 12 play. They haven’t won a conference game since Jan. 14 against West Virginia.

However, Oklahoma did nearly beat Kansas when the two sides met in Lawrence in January. The Sooners held a 10-point lead late in the second half, before the Jayhawks were able to make a comeback and win by four points. And that win against Alabama shows how formidable Oklahoma can be when it’s playing well.

Sooners guard Grant Sherfield is a player to watch. He led all scorers with 25 points the last time the two teams played. And Self noted a big key to guarding Sherfield well will be bringing the necessary level of energy on that end of the court.

Kansas might have only eight scholarship players available again

The Jayhawks only had eight scholarship players available for their game against Texas earlier this week, and that could happen again against Oklahoma.

Self said both super-senior forward Cam Martin and redshirt freshman guard Kyle Cuffe Jr. won’t be available. Although Self acknowledged things could change, he also didn’t anticipate sophomore forward Zach Clemence or sophomore guard Bobby Pettiford Jr. playing either. And with freshman forward Zuby Ejiofor, one of the five who missed the most recent game due to injury, Self said he envisioned it being possible Ejiofor could practice Thursday but allowed that wasn't definitive.

Kevin McCullar Jr. is working on not getting into foul trouble

In Kansas’ last five games, McCullar has reached four fouls four separate times. In one of those instances he fouled out. And considering how much the Jayhawks rely on their starters, like McCullar, that’s a problem.

McCullar said sometimes he is too aggressive early on in games. He noted Self has talked to him about being smarter, so he can be out there on the court contributing. And McCullar took responsibility for ensuring that takes place.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: 3 things to consider before KU basketball vs. Oklahoma Saturday