Here’s a little known fact about Kansas University men’s basketball coach Bill Self, as revealed by his dad, Bill Sr.

“He does not like to lose,” Self’s dad said before a game recently at Allen Fieldhouse. “He does not handle losing well. He handles pressure well.”

Bill Sr. will be glad to learn his 40-year-old pride and joy didn’t whack his head against a wall in the locker room at Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, Calif., after his first loss as coach of the top-ranked Jayhawks — Saturday’s 64-58 decision to No. 21 Stanford.

As KU’s coach answered questions from the media, his only show of aggression was his fierce chomping into an apple in the Jayhawks’ locker room.

“Nobody likes them,” Self said of losses, “but if you don’t get better from them, they are doubly bad. We’ve got to learn, respond and get better, and we should.”

He realizes losses and erratic play go with the territory of coaching college players, especially early in the season.

KU isn’t the only perennial power with a loss already. Duke, Arizona and Syracuse have suffered setbacks, and Michigan State has three losses on its ledger.

“I do think there’s not that many great teams the first month of the season,” Self said. “You can play a team that is returning experience. You can play a team that is good nobody knows is good.

“Teams don’t become teams in November and early December. I certainly hope we become a team by Big 12 play. It’ll be a goal. I think it’ll happen. I would anticipate less and less upsets occurring the longer we go.”

The fact his team lost Saturday, of course, means KU will not be No. 1 in this week’s polls. Florida likely will be the team that takes the top spot this week.

“Usually teams have to go through some stuff to get where they want to go,” Self said, “and a lot of teams are going through stuff now.”

KU is going through the loss of starting guard Michael Lee to a collarbone injury, plus the installation of Self’s new system.

KU’s high-low offense has resulted in one big high — the win over Michigan State — and one low — the 19 turnovers and 36.7 percent shooting against Stanford.

“Guys have to have the confidence to throw the ball inside, and guys catch the ball inside and score,” Self said. “We do not have good ball and body movement.

“We have got to get to the point we are aggressive enough to make them guard us on the perimeter so we can pass around them. They backed off us and let us pass it around the perimeter and sat in our post men’s laps a lot.”

KU’s players have been working hard on the high-low offense at practice with mixed results. Occasionally, a guy like David Padgett will bust loose for a dunk as he did in the second half Sunday; sometimes passes inside are intercepted or sail out of bounds.

“We’ve been practicing long enough. We should know how to play it,” Miles said, indicating the Jayhawks simply have to play more crisply and with more confidence. “We’re dribbling too much with the ball stuck in everybody’s hands a little too long.”

The Jayhawks continued a trend of struggling from behind the arc Saturday. KU hit three of 20 threes and has hit 22 of 80 for the season.

“Look around the country, and there are not many good offensive teams right now. There are not many teams that score easy. Certainly we fall into that category,” Self said. “I still think we have good shooters. I still think we will shoot it well.”

KU will meet Fort Hays State at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks then will meet Oregon at 1 p.m. Saturday at Kemper Arena.