Kansas basketball disappointed this past Saturday, with its 81-75 loss on the road against UCF in Orlando, Florida.
Here are a few takeaways from this defeat for the No. 17 Jayhawks (10-4, 0-1 in Big 12) in their Big 12 Conference opener:
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Melvin Council Jr. reacts to his late, consequential foul
With less than 30 seconds left in regulation, Kansas cut its deficit to 76-75 on the back of three free throws from senior guard Tre White. Going into the next defensive possession, the Jayhawks had a chance to ensure that, when they got the ball back, they could be down by no more than three points.
But then they allowed UCF to get into a fast-break opportunity, and not only did the Knights’ Riley Kugel hit a lay-up KU senior guard Melvin Council Jr. fouled him in the process.
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Kugel hit the free throw to put UCF up 79-75, and KU never had the fortune again to bring the score closer. Council acknowledged postgame, while speaking with reporters, that he had made a mistake. He mentioned he either should have fouled Kugel harder, or tried to block the shot, or at least done something other than what he actually did.
Bill Self needs his team to play through the post more offensively
Kansas coach Bill Self said most of the teams he’s had at KU in the past have played through the post, and the one he has this season hasn’t been able to do that consistently yet. Against UCF, the Jayhawks didn’t really have one at all, and he thinks they have to have that to be a good team. Against the Knights, KU didn’t establish sophomore forward Flory Bidunga as a presence inside and saw freshman forward Bryson Tiller not make the most of his opportunities.
Self thought, overall, UCF coach Johnny Dawkins switched up defenses well. Although he said Kansas knew how it wanted to attack what the Knights were doing, instead, the Jayhawks let their opponents’ strategy bother them. And it didn’t help that KU struggled defensively on the other end.
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Former Kansas commit Riley Kugel shines for UCF
Going into the 2024-25 season, at one point, it looked like Kugel would transfer from Florida to Kansas. But instead, while Kugel was once committed to KU, he ended up going to Mississippi State. Self again expressed his disappointment that they weren’t able to work it out, so Kugel would play for the Jayhawks, and praised Kugel postgame.
Self not only described Kugel as talented and an athlete, but added he’s better with the ball than Self would have envisioned him being two years ago. Kugel can also shoot it and drive past defenders. Kugel, who finished with no turnovers, led the Knights in scoring with 19 points.
FILE — Kansas basketball coach Bill Self yells out during the second half of a game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi inside Allen Fieldhouse on Nov. 11, 2025.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball takeaways from Big 12 Conference road loss at UCF
