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Bill Self, Johnny Furphy, Hunter Dickinson reflect on Kansas basketball's loss against BYU

LAWRENCE — There was a lot to talk about, following Kansas basketball’s 76-68 loss at home in Big 12 Conference play against BYU.

Here are five quotes that stood out postgame Tuesday after the No. 9 Jayhawks’ (21-7, 9-6 in Big 12) defeat against the Cougars (20-8, 8-7 in Big 12):

Bill Self addresses how sustainable BYU’s reliance on 3s is

It’s not a surprise that BYU relied heavily on shooting 3s Tuesday when it upset Kansas. The Cougars came into the game as a team that plays that way offensively, and lived up to it against the Jayhawks. But while a team relying on 3s so heavily could lead some to question how sustainable that is, Kansas coach Bill Self expressed support for what BYU is choosing to do.

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“It’s a great style,” Self said. “It’s NBA style. It won’t be as good if you don’t have guys that can shoot, but as long as they keep recruiting guys that can shoot (it will).”

Johnny Furphy reflects on Nicolas Timberlake’s return in the first half

During the first half, graduate senior guard Nicolas Timberlake had to leave the game after an apparent injury. Had he not returned minutes later, an already shorthanded Kansas team would have had even less depth. But Timberlake did return, and freshman guard Johnny Furphy reflected postgame on seeing his teammate come back into the game.

“We’re happy to see him get back out there,” Furphy said. “He’s a pretty tough guy, so we weren’t surprised.”

Bill Self shares his perspective on how many fouls the officials called

By game’s end, Kansas and BYU had been called for more than 40 combined fouls. Jayhawks senior center Hunter Dickinson was also called for a technical foul, as Cougars redshirt junior Trevin Knell and coach Mark Pope both were. The sheer regularity of the calls the officials made seemed to have a significant effect on the rhythm of the game.

When Self was asked about the topic, he acknowledged there were a lot of fouls. However, he didn’t bemoan the fact that happened. In all honesty, he noted, the calls were probably correct.

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“It’s a little frustrating,” Self said. “The game was probably called the way it should have been called the whole year long, and then it wouldn’t be called the way it was called tonight if it’s been called the whole year long because teams would adjust. But I think they were actual fouls. I thought the officiating was fine. I didn’t see anything about it that was negative.”

Hunter Dickinson admits missing free throws got to him

Pope could understand if someone thought it was part of BYU’s strategy to foul Dickinson and send him to the free-throw line. When the game ended, Dickinson had 15 free-throw attempts and had only made six. That’s a 40% mark that, had the fouling been intentional, would have made the Cougars look very smart for choosing that strategy.

But Pope highlighted postgame it wasn’t part of the team’s strategy. What occurred was just a factor of Dickinson not performing at the level he’s capable of. Dickinson admitted later the accumulating amount of missed free throws did result in a strain on him mentally.

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t,” Dickinson said. “Definitely affected me out there. I do think I got in my head a little bit when I started to miss and I think that kind of snowballed and really kind of just made it hard out there.”

Bill Self reveals how he thinks about Kansas’ first home loss this season

Kansas is now 14-1 inside Allen Fieldhouse this season, and it shouldn’t be much of a surprise Self said the team was down postgame. But Self, who thought the Jayhawks needed to better use their speed to affect BYU’s skill, also downplayed how significant that is. Self alluded to the idea that Kansas needs to have some good things happen, in addition to working hard, if it’s going to be successful while it’s shorthanded.

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“You could feel this coming today at shoot-around,” Self said. “I mean, we had a terrible shoot-around and the focus wasn’t very good, the energy level wasn’t as good and you could feel this coming. So — and it’s not anything from an attitude standpoint, just it happens over the course of a season where you have days like this.”

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self gestures to players during a game Tuesday against BYU at Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self gestures to players during a game Tuesday against BYU at Allen Fieldhouse.

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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 jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: What did Bill Self think about Kansas basketball's first loss at home?