LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball coach Bill Self had a limit, Thursday, as he talked about Friday’s upcoming game against UConn.
Self, prompted to discuss how significant of a matchup it is, noted he wasn’t going to call it the biggest game they will have ever played inside Allen Fieldhouse. That wouldn’t be fair to past games they’ve had. Just look back to the 2021-22 regular season, when the Jayhawks played the Kentucky Wildcats in Lawrence in a battle of two national championship contenders, as one example.
But Friday will mean No. 6 Kansas (6-1) playing host to No. 4 UConn (7-0). This game will see the past two national champions face off against each other. So, considering it’ll be early December when the game is set to tip off at 8 p.m., from Self’s perspective it is as big of a game as he can remember playing this early in the season.
Here are three things to think about ahead of tip-off:
Bill Self thinks UConn is capable of winning a second-straight national title
Self watched UConn go on its NCAA tournament run last season and win it all. From his perspective, it got to a point where there were the Huskies and then there was everyone else. He was fully aware, should Kansas have advanced to play UConn in the Sweet 16, of how tough the Jayhawks’ path forward would have been.
This season, Self’s opinion on the Huskies hasn’t dissipated. He described them as a team that is complete, and capable of winning again. He noted they have all the pieces, including perimeter shooting, even if the statistics don’t showcase perimeter shooting to that extent just yet.
Among the things Self said Kansas is making a point to be strong in, are defensive rebounding, ball-screen defense and playing with pace offensively.
Hunter Dickinson has a chance to go against Donovan Clingan
If Self was a big-man who was listed at 7-foot-2, like his senior center Hunter Dickinson is, he’d look for matchups like Dickinson is about to have with UConn sophomore center Donovan Clingan. Clingan, a 7-foot-2 talent, is someone Self described as one of the best in the nation. It should come as no surprise how much of a topic of discussion this matchup has been.
Dickinson acknowledged it will be a lot of fun, and that he understands the importance of him winning his individual matchup. He highlighted how efficient Clingan has been shooting the ball. But Dickinson also pointed out that it will be a collective effort at the end of the day, and that Kansas graduate senior forward Parker Braun will be among those who’ll play a role in beating Clingan as well.
Kansas is still looking for Dajuan Harris Jr. to look to score more
Like Dickinson pointed out, redshirt senior guard Dajuan Harris Jr. showed in their win against Kentucky that he can step up and be a scoring threat for Kansas. That 23-point performance from Harris earlier this season was pivotal. But now Harris is coming off of a game in which he scored one point in the win against Eastern Illinois, which means that the Kentucky win is still the only one he’s finished in double figures scoring, and the desire for Harris to be a more consistent scoring threat is coming up again.
Dickinson said he can help Harris out in that regard by setting better screens. Freshman guard Elmarko Jackson mentioned screens as well, and continuing to move of the ball to put stress on the defense. Time will tell how much making it a point of emphasis leads to a different result.
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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 [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.