Bill Self Praises Oklahoma State, Says They Were ‘Obviously Better’ on Saturday

Oklahoma State came in and beat Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday for just the 13th time in 243 games coached by Bill Self. It was as stunning as it was exciting, and Mike Boynton noted after the game how much he wanted his team to enjoy the result.

On the other side of the court, Bill Self was not pleased. But he also recognized that OSU, which led for all but 1:55 of the game, just took it to his Jayhawks for their third home loss of the 2017-18 season.

“They [OSU] always play great,” Self said of his alma mater. “We obviously weren’t very alert and we were really slow, especially early on in the first half, but they were much quicker. They definitely whipped us on the glass, individually and as a unit.”

OSU out-rebounded Kansas 41-28.

“We didn’t do very many good things at all. We got down 13 at half and came out with really good energy in the second half, I thought. And they made two 3-pointers, and one was off a pretty good defense. We played our butts off and only cut the lead down to one (point) there for about the first seven or eight minutes.

“Then we got (the lead) down to seven, and eventually got down to five, but they were better than us today. They’ve got a good team. They play so well together and they don’t care who shoots it. Their players play to their strengths, and they are so quick.”

Whoo. That’s a lot. But he wasn’t done heaping praise on Boynton’s squad.

“(Jeffrey) Carroll is just a jet athletically compared to us,” said Self.

I love it when Self goes full “none of our guys could even play with any of those guys” mode, even though his team is going to win its 249th consecutive Big 12 title in the toughest league in the country. It’s gold.

“(Mitchell) Solomon is a really good, solid big guy who can step out and make some shots, and of course their guard (Kendall) Smith, he had his way with us. That was a tough one and one that we will certainly study and look back (at). I know that it’s one thing to get beat, but to get beat when the other team is obviously better (is tough). But our mindset, our athletic ability; we weren’t turned up enough to be competitive with them athletically.”

Self talked even more later on about how KU got whipped on the boards and called it “the least competitive that I have ever seen.”

So he seemed like all in all it was a great day for Kansas hoops. His senior guard Devonte’ Graham joined him in singing the Pokes’ praises.

“It is very frustrating,” said Graham. “You are supposed to win your home games and it is supposed to be really tough on the road. We have it flip-flopped this year. We are way better on the road this year than when we play at home. We need to find a way to come out and crush teams like they (Oklahoma State) came out and put their foot on our throat today.”

One of the things that really stood out to me on Saturday is how OSU was not handed the game, they took it. Again, KU shot 57 percent in the second half … and lost. And they did so to a team that had yet to win on the road and had blown five-straight halftime leads in games away from GIA.

“The message really came from ourselves,” said Kendall Smith who ended the day with 24 points. “Coach was happy with us at the half, obviously. It was kind of a collected group among ourselves to understand that we have been in this position before and we didn’t like the outcomes that we’ve had. We came together and told ourselves that we were going to come out and play a full 40 minutes.”

That they did. OSU celebrated not by doing backflips on the Jayhawk but rather by sharing chest bumps, handshakes and generally acting like this is what they expected the outcome of the game. Cam McGriff, who poured in 20 of his own might have said it best when the day was said and done. The only thing you can say in this year’s Big 12.

“It was exciting, but we have a game in two days,” he said. “We have to prepare for that.”