PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — Kansas basketball coach Bill Self told reporters that his team’s past few practices have gone well as the Jayhawks arrived here Tuesday for the NCAA Tournament.

Bill Self isn’t going to make a big deal out of not playing closer to home

Selfishly, Self said, he’d rather be playing somewhere close to Lawrence like Kansas City or Wichita. But considering that’s not happening this year, he’s not going to dwell on it. He even volunteered that playing closer to home can come with its distractions, such as having to handle getting people tickets and dealing with the potential added pressure that can come from competing in front of a crowd that leans more toward a home-court advantage.

Bill Self highlights what stands out about Arkansas

Self mentioned Arkansas has been playing fast and that it looks like the Razorbacks will have Boogie Fland back. Billy Richmond III is someone Self considers capable of providing Arkansas with a different gear athletically. And not only is Trevon Brazile someone who can be a matchup problem for smaller wings, but he’s been shooting well recently, too.

The Razorbacks have bigs who can be threats to shoot the ball from behind the arc, Self said. That means Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson and Flory Bidunga are going to be defending on the perimeter more.

Bill Self is anticipating this game garnering national attention

Self and Razorbacks coach John Calipari are two of the most high-profile coaches in the sport, each a national championship winner in the past, and leading two teams that came into this season each with significant expectations.

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 [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.