Colorado after the game: everything Bill had to say

The team includes the new start into the season and views 2-0 squad.

Bill Self spoke about the victory over Colorado, including a big game by Hunter Dickinson and how the prospect of a fresh start.

On Hunter's big game …

I thought he was obviously the best player in the game and he was great. I had a great start. He and KJ know you killed us on the glass. If it weren't for hunting, we would have been destroyed on the glass. But he was great. He played like an all-American tonight.

What felt different in this Colorado team than they played in Lawrence …

To be honest, it was similar in Lawrence. We had control over the game and then came back and made it interesting and tonight we had control of the game and then obviously came back and even took the lead.

I can't speak for TAD, but I thought they were a better team tonight than two weeks ago. And I think that shows that their results in other games. I actually thought that this evening was also a better team than two weeks ago. We made a lot of time in many ways this evening, but Colorado also had some missed options. So it was a good competition game. We urgently needed it. I am proud of our boys because we were on it and fought after it was somehow difficult.

Two-point game, three minutes and change on the left, and at that time you talked a lot about tougher team winnings. Did you think you were harder on the track?

I think if I said it would be disrespectful, but I think we did better on the track. You know, we have selected them through fouling a few times and they made free throws. But the things that have given us problems in other games were much better tonight.

The middle eight minutes of the game gave you problems again. How could the team bounce off?

You know that we should actually have climbed at halftime, at least seven. Juan played a terrible game to give him the ball back, and then Zeke became the door behind him in a simple deal. The cut it to five in the second half. We weren't terrible to start the second half. We started 1 for 6 of the free -wing line and you have to do free throws to curb the flood, and we didn't do that. So it would be the type of piece that helps you to maintain your lead.

I thought that would probably be good for us that we would experience this success after we had pricked it away and then came back.

How did you get a tip and the associated challenges so late?

It wasn't that difficult for me. I went for my walk around 11:00 a.m. and then made my nap before the game at 5:00 a.m. So I handled it well. It wasn't that big.

When you got Hunter, you thought he could wear such a team …

I actually thought he would do it several times a year and he was inconsistent to do it that way. But we didn't help each other either. It is difficult if you find it difficult to coordinate the floor and do different things when you have your best players in the game. But this evening he achieved different ways. I mean, he was a power player and a finesse player tonight.

How big is this victory for trusting the route and where is the trust in the road trip in Utah?

It is actually much higher than the road trip in Utah. 10 is obviously a larger number than one. So it didn't take much to be much higher. I think it will be wonders for us. You know 2-0, our season started against Oklahoma State, because we screwed up the conference season. All we can do is to end the conference season strongly to prepare for the post -season. So we're just 2-0. That's how we look at it. We are unbeaten, so I think we are a little more confident.

Your boys really accepted this new seasonal philosophy and started 2-0 …

I think we looked for something we can reach for. We needed something good to happen, and that was the only thing that actually made sense for them, at least in my opinion.