Bill Self loses his cool, gets ejected from game at Arizona State
By Mark Kern
Published:
Bill Self isn’t one to usually lose his composure during a game as the coach at Kansas, but that happened during the Jayhawks’ 70-60 upset loss at Arizona State on Tuesday night.
During the first half, star guard Darryn Peterson was called for an offensive foul on a play where he was bumped by the Arizona State defender. Self showed his frustrations on the call, and for only the second time in his KU career, he was ejected.
It was a 7-point game at the time of the ejection, but the lead ballooned to 20 points at the half for the Sun Devils. A furious second half rally brought the Jayhawks to within four points, but that was as close as they got.
After the game, Self told the local KU broadcast what led to his ejection.
“I’m disappointed in myself that I wasn’t out there with the guys to finish the game,” Self said. “But that was a pretty temperamental crew tonight. That didn’t cost us. What cost us is we weren’t ready to play. I came out of the box and he gave me a T, which is fine. But Sirmons by no stretch did I do anything to deserve a second T. But that’s those guys for you. He told me to get back in the box and I didn’t get back in there quick enough. So that’s on me.”
The only other time that Self has been ejected from a game at Kansas was in a 79-50 loss at Texas Tech in February of 2024.
It has been an up-and-down season for the Jayhawks. At times, they have looked like a true national championship contender, while also looking like a team that could get knocked out in the first game. Much of the struggles has been the inconsistency with the Peterson situation. He has played at least 30 minutes in four consecutive games, but he scored 15 points on only 3-of-18 from the field on Tuesday night.
The Jayhawks finish the regular season against K-State on Saturday, and a win in that game could help them secure a double-bye in the Big 12 tournament.
Here’s a look at the latest National Championship contenders on Kalshi:
