Omar Wilkes scratched his head and stalled for time as he pondered a reporter’s probing question.

“Do you want to know one thing I want from Santa or one thing I want out of Christmas?” Wilkes, Kansas University’s freshman basketball guard said, asked what he hoped to receive today on Christmas Day.

What you want from Santa …

“Oh … from Santa I’d like a Cadillac Escalade,” Wilkes replied.

The son of former UCLA and NBA great Jamaal Wilkes was only kidding.

“I’m not a material guy, so it doesn’t really matter to me. Just to be with my family,” Wilkes said of his true Christmas wish.

Santa has come through once again.

Wilkes, KU’s 6-foot-4, 175-pounder from Los Angeles is spending the holiday with family members today.

As for what Wilkes put under the tree for his parents, he noted: “Since I am a broke college student, I’ll probably get them a KU ball signed by my teammates.”

Wilkes wasn’t the only Jayhawk happy to be given four days off to spend with family this week following KU’s 75-61 loss to Nevada on Sunday in Reno, Nev.

“I’m going to relax, chill with my brothers, my mama,” said junior guard Keith Langford, who is back home in Fort Worth, Texas. “One basketball game won’t ruin Christmas.”

Coach Bill Self says KU’s 14-point setback shouldn’t ruin anybody’s holiday, but the game probably will be on his mind at some point, today.

“We are going to think about it a lot, between now and Friday,” said Self, who will re-congregate the team Friday night as the Jayhawks begin preparations for Monday’s game against Binghamton University (7 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse).

“We (coaching staff) met Monday night for a long time, trying to figure out some ways we can help our guys, to get them to the point where maybe they are playing to more their capabilities and what our team capabilities are.

“When I’m asked, ‘Does it (loss) ruin Christmas, I’d hope wherever everybody is … they take time to stop and understand what this time of season is all about and celebrate it with families or friends or whomever it might be.

“But trust me … basketball is on our minds. Players do need to get away to be with their families. It’ll be their last chance before the end of the school year.”

Tuesday on his weekly radio show, Self recalled that in 11 years as a coach, he’s suffered defeat twice in the game before Christmas. The past three years, his Illinois teams beat Missouri two days before Christmas.

“I think the last time we lost before Christmas was my first year at Tulsa and it was miserable,” Self said of a loss at Cleveland State. “We played just about the way we played against Nevada. Guys already had a foot on the plane getting home for Christmas and I remember it was at Cleveland State. It made for similar feelings we’re having now.”

• Happy holiday: KU junior Aaron Miles hopes the families KU’s players shopped for in a team outing two weeks ago have a great day today.

“It was a fun thing to do,” Miles said of shopping for needy families. “So many people are less fortunate than we are. I don’t get a chance to meet the family who the gifts go to, but I know it puts a smile on their faces. That’s what the Christmas spirit is all about.”