Kansas basketball's Bill Self delivers puzzling explanation for bizzare end to West Virginia loss

12/31/2024 07:44 PM

College hoops has already had tons of upsets this season, with none more electrifying than West Virginia’s 62-61 road victory over Kansas basketball on Tuesday. However, the No. 7 Jayhawks could have avoided it by taking a timeout and running a proper play with 1.8 seconds left.

Instead, Bill Self pocketed his timeout and had Kansas heave a Hail Mary downcourt to KJ Adams, which he explained post-game, via KWCH 12 News’ Tejay Cleland.

: Here's Bill Self walking through the final hail mary play for #KUBball. He wanted KJ Adams to have a 1-on-1 catch chance at the other end, thus not calling the timeout while WVU was guarding the ball instead.

"That's about as good as you can do… It just didn't work out." pic.twitter.com/SrLADggMJm

— Tejay Cleland (@KWCHTejay) December 31, 2024

“Well, that’s what we practice all the time. I thought we had a timeout, but to be honest with you, we were better off running something where I thought they would put somebody on the ball, and they did,” the two-time AP College Coach of the Year said. “So that meant if they put somebody on the ball, that means KJ’s one-on-one. If we call timeout, there’s a chance that they’ll talk about it and put two guys back, and therefore KJ won’t get a naked catch. That’s about as good as you can do, it was a good pass and KJ got a naked catch, but it just didn’t work out.”

While it makes sense to catch the defense off guard with a quick heave rather than allowing it time to set up, converting a cross-court pass into a made shot is always an uphill battle. What’s even weirder is that Self put the game in Adams’ hands despite his subpar outing (two points, 1-of-5 FG).

Regardless, this game wasn’t just about Kansas’ mistakes. Mountaineers senior guard Javon Small helped seal the win in a couple of big moments, such as drilling this contested jumper in the corner with two minutes to go, via WVU’s social media.

JAVON SMALL

ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/rzdBBejxKm

— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) December 31, 2024

The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder also drained the final free throw to secure the one-point lead with 1.8 seconds left before the Jayhawks’ ill-fated heave.

Kansas basketball’s next chance to redeem itself will come on Sunday against UCF, while West Virginia will try to keep its momentum against Oklahoma State on Saturday.

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