KU rolls past UMKC 105-62; Self earns career win No. 600
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Just as the video celebrating his first 600 wins was wrapping up, Kansas coach Bill Self turned to his left and saw Frank Mason III, extending a ball to him to commemorate the milestone.
It was fitting: Nobody did more to deliver Self's most recent victory.
The sparkplug point guard poured in 30 points to match his career high, Devonte Graham and Josh Jackson also had starring roles, and the third-ranked Jayhawks cruised to a 105-62 victory over Missouri-Kansas City on Tuesday night to give their coach a win 24 years in the making.
"It's really cool to see all the guys who have been a part of this before and been before me," said Jackson, who had 19 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. "To be part now feels good."
Indeed, more than a dozen of Self's former players appeared on the video, ranging from Cole Aldrich and Mario Chalmers to Tony Heard, one of the coach's early stars at Tulsa.
"We tried to get him to cry," Jackson said, "but he was like, `Nah, not happening.'"
Self is the ninth-fastest coach to reach 600 wins, just behind Phog Allen, whose name adorns Kansas' building. The former Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois coach is 394-84 with the Jayhawks, and Self's mark of 212-9 at Allen Fieldhouse is downright absurd considering the Jayhawks' typically rugged schedule.
"The video was really good. I had no idea," Self said. "Seeing some of those men, those guys were just kids when we had them, and some of them are over 40 years old now. Seeing some of those guys up there, that was very meaningful. That was very cool."
Graham was 6 of 8 from beyond the arc and finished with 18 points for the Jayhawks (8-1), while Svi Mykhailiuk added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
LaVell Boyd had 17 points for the Roos, who have never beaten Kansas in seven tries.
Of course, this game against UMKC (6-4) was essentially over the moment the contract was signed.
Kansas opened a 10-point lead before the 4-minute mark, extended the advantage to 51-35 by the break, then reeled off the first 10 points of the second half to put it away.
That's not to say Self enjoyed every minute of his milestone win.
There was the pass that Jackson threw to the second row of seats late in the first half. There were the missed block-outs by Landen Lucas that gave the Roos extra opportunities. And there was a turnover that prompted Self to let rip a PG-13 tirade that could be heard almost everywhere in an otherwise quiet gym.
"What are you guys doing?" he asked. "What are you frickin' doing?"
Hardly missing a shot. The Jayhawks were 15 of 27 from beyond the arc, shot 57 percent for the game and rolled to their nation-leading 45th consecutive victory at Allen Fieldhouse.
Not to mention a memorable win for their coach.
"I can't even fathom that," Roos coach Kareem Richardson said of Self's 600th victory, "but that's an awesome feat. And he'll have a heck of a lot more wins to go with that."
NO CRYING IN BASKETBALL
There were plenty of hugs for Self in the locker room, and Jackson said some of the players tried to get their coach to cry. Success? "Nah, they weren't going to do that," Self said. "All I've got to do is think about how we shoot free throws -- I cry when I'm that mad."
UMKC'S MAIN GOAL
The Roos hardly planned to roll over, but they also kept things in perspective. "I mean, at the end of the day, we still want to get better as a team as well. That's all we wanted to do tonight is get better," Boyd said. Asked whether that happened, he replied: "Not really."
BIG PICTURE
UMKC could sorely use senior guard Martez Harrison, the team's second-leading scorer. He missed his fourth consecutive game while serving an indefinite suspension due to a violation of school policy.
Kansas has not been tested through the first four games of a six-game homestand. The closest anybody has come to the Jayhawks was Stanford, which lost 89-74 last weekend. That was also the only time Kansas has been held under 90 points during those four games.
UP NEXT
UMKC plays Division II school William Jewell on Saturday.
Kansas plays former Big 12 rival Nebraska on Saturday.
