And in the LIAR category it was a toss-up between Smart and his Missouri/Kentucky hybrid coach Travis Ford
Coach Self quotes prior to OSU game:
"We want to go in and win at Stillwater on Saturday. There would be nothing better for us than to go down there and do something special in a juiced building on someone else's court. Then we want to back it up and have a great senior night. Then we want to go and play well at West Virginia and have as much momentum as we can going into the Big 12 Tournament."
KUAD
“We talked about it (grabbing at least a share of 10th title). We didn’t make a big deal of it. We’ll rest up and try to win it outright in Stillwater (8 p.m., Saturday at Oklahoma State),” Self added.
There was no trophy in the building to commemorate the tie.
“I said we’d do it when and if we win it outright,” Self said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to celebrate in Stillwater on Saturday.”
LJW
Oklahoma State sophomore guard Marcus Smart caused quite a stir on Saturday night by saying one of the reasons he played so well against Kansas the second half was his desire to keep the Jayhawks from cutting down the nets in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
“Before the game, the coaches showed us a quote of Bill Self saying he was coming here cutting down our nets, and he was gonna win it outright in Stillwater,” Smart said of the Big 12 regular-season title.
“We couldn’t let that happen in our house, so I just knew I had to keep pushing until the end,” added Smart, who had 21 points (20 the second half) in OSU’s 72-65 victory.
KU coach Self provided the Journal-World a rebuttal to Smart’s accusation on Sunday night.
“I heard and saw the postgame interview (with ESPN’s Shannon Spake) after the game,” Self said. “I don’t know where Marcus got his information, but it was totally inaccurate. I’ve never said anything about cutting down nets or anything like that. I never said anything about cutting down nets in their building.
“Strange ... we’ve won the league 10 years in a row. I don’t know if we’ve even cut down nets at home. I’d never disrespect another program, especially my alma mater, by doing anything like that. It’s disappointing that was said. Certainly he obviously had some bad information however he received it.”
KU still clinched the undisputed league title courtesy of losses by Iowa State and Texas.
“Sure it would have been nice to have an ‘in-locker room celebration’ had we won the game. That’s something hopefully we’ll be able to do next time we play, hopefully, if we’re successful.”
LJW