Bill Self didn’t stomp his feet, shake his fists or do any ranting and raving during Kansas University’s pulsating victory over Michigan State Tuesday night.

Not that it would have done any good.

“If you look over at me, I’m probably smiling or whatever,” Self, KU’s first-year head basketball coach said of his sideline demeanor. “It doesn’t do any good to yell at them (players) because they can’t hear you anyway.”

The decibel level was near an all-time high during a majority of the No. 6-ranked Jayhawks’ 81-74 victory over the No. 3 Spartans — Self’s first big win as Jayhawk coach.

“One thing that is different about Allen … you can’t coach during a game,” Self said. “Guys that are great game coaches at Allen … that’s a bunch of baloney. Unless you know sign language, nobody can ever hear you.”

The noise generated by 16,300 fans came as music to Self’s ears.

“That’s probably as much fun as I’ve had in coaching,” said Self, who worked at Illinois, Tulsa and Oral Roberts the past 10 years. “It was a fun night, the best atmosphere I’ve been a part of.”

KU assistant Norm Roberts was just as amazed at KU’s crowd.

“I would rank it as the best so far I’ve experienced as far as atmosphere, energy and support. It’s the loudest arena I’ve been in,” said Roberts, who assisted Self at his three prior stops.

“The great thing is the knowledge of the fans, when to yell, get loud, bring it up and tone it down. It’s awesome. What the loudness does is brings energy. It brings so much energy it’s hard to communicate with the players.”

Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self tries to get his players' attention during the Jayhawks' victory over Michigan State. Self coached KU past Michigan State, 81-74, Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

It’s not a bad problem to have.

“I think they hear us fine in the huddle,” Roberts explained. “Coach talking during the game and trying to make a call … we use hand signals and other things. The players know what offense and defense we’ll be in at all times.”

Some of KU’s players, of course, are used to incredibly loud crowds at Allen.

“The fans were great. They were our sixth man,” noted Wayne Simien, who exploded for a career-high 28 points. “They helped us get off to a good start tonight and take control of the game early.”

• Instant credibility: Self liked Tuesday’s victory for many reasons. One might top the list, however.

“This is what I hope it does … I hope it gives us credibility with our players that what we do works, which I know it will,” Self said. “Nobody is skeptical, but people want to see, ‘Hey, does it work?’ We won a muddy game. There’s going to be some other times the games are not free flowing. We’ve got to draw confidence in winning those types of games because we’ve not shot the ball consistently yet.

6Sports video: Simien reflects on MSU game

“If you don’t shoot it consistently, sometimes you don’t play quite as fast offensively. I think the guys will draw confidence knowing, hey, what we enforce works.”

• Turkey day: The Jayhawks were to eat Thanksgiving dinner at Self’s house today, then practice tonight. The Jayhawks next meet TCU at 10 p.m., Monday, in Dallas.
• Big Dub’s big game: KU’s players on Tuesday were mighty impressed by the performance of Simien, who had a career-high 28 points off 9-of-12 shooting. He made nine of nine free throws and now has cashed 16 of 16 for the year.

“He didn’t surprise me. He’s done that before on a national stage, in big games,” said junior Keith Langford. “We’re going to have to beg him to stay (in college) another year.”

In all, 19 NBA scouts watched Simien’s performance, the third-highest number of scouts to watch a KU game.

• Conversational: During pregame warm-ups, KU’s Aaron Miles and Keith Langford chatted with Ted Hillary, one of the three officials. Hillary was no stranger. He worked five KU games last season. Official Jim Burr was also a familiar face. Burr worked the Jayhawks’ games against Duke and Arizona State in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
• Ironmen: Miles’ 38 minutes tied his previous high. He also logged 38 minutes against Colorado last year. Miles also had two 37-minute games last season. Simien’s 38 minutes were a career high. He played 37 minutes against Cal last year.
• Correction: Simien’s 18 first-half points were the most by a Jayhawk in a half since Keith Langford’s 22 in last season’s loss to Arizona at Allen Fieldhouse. It was reported Simien’s 18 were most since Kirk Hinrich’s 18 in the second half against Baylor in 2001.