Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self often talks about how much value there is in winning ugly games — the games where the shots aren’t falling, the Jayhawks get into foul trouble early and the star players aren’t putting up numbers.
The games teams steal thanks to grit and a little luck. A game like Saturday in Bloomington, where the No. 2 Jayhawks trailed Indiana by 13 in the second half only to stun the home crowd with a 75-71 Kansas victory.
A game where Dajuan Harris played all 40 minutes, Kevin McCullar started the second half with with three fouls and Hunter Dickinson was jeered so badly he later quipped he could save a baby in Bloomington and Indiana fans would still boo him.
After beating the Hoosiers Saturday, Self showed just how much he loves winning those games, too — with an epic locker room celebration that feels more apt for March than December.
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“It was just a hell of a team win,” Self said afterwards. “It was a great environment. What a place to play.”
Kansas already has wins over Kentucky and UConn this year, so while it’s easy to say the Blue Blood programs should play more non-conference games against each other, it’s also understandable that it may not be in the best interest of their team records.
Especially when a ho-hum game in December can get a Hall of Fame head coach as fired up as Self was on Saturday.