After scoring in single digits in Kansas’ last two games of the regular season, a downward-trending Malik Newman heard an earful from his coach at practice the past few days.
“A couple times he pulled me to the side. He told me to be aggressive,” Newman, KU’s 6-foot-3 sophomore combo guard from Jackson, Miss., said of coach Bill Self, after scoring a career-high 30 points in the Jayhawks’ 82-68 Big 12 quarterfinal victory over Oklahoma State on Thursday at the Sprint Center.
“Coach has been preaching that guards win postseason games,” Newman added after hitting 11 of 15 shots, including 4 of 6 threes and 4 of 6 free throws.