Bill Self screwed up, and he knew it, a flashing neon spotlight shone directly on a fundamental weakness of a team without much margin for error.
That’s on him. That’s his doing, his decision, his choice to let a player he knows is a bad free-throw shooter turn four possessions in a crucial stretch into five missed free throws and zero points.
The culture of coach worship in college basketball means Hall of Famers like Self take more credit and blame (and salary) but in nights like this, when Self’s Jayhawks lost 85-80 to Oklahoma on Tuesday then standard procedure fits.