Kansas guard Sherron Collins and the Jayhawks warm up prior to tipoff against Washington in the CBE Classic Monday, Nov. 24, 2008 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

There’s no place Bill Self would rather be than Allen Fieldhouse at midday today.

“I love Saturday afternoon games,” Self, Kansas University’s sixth-year basketball coach, said before Friday’s practice in KU’s tradition-rich building.

“There’s nothing like the sunlight coming through the fieldhouse windows.”

He’s all fired up about today’s 1 p.m. home game against Jackson State, which opens a stretch of three straight Saturday matinees.

KU will meet UMass at 1 p.m. a week from today in Kansas City’s Sprint Center and Temple at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 20, back in Allen.

“If you are successful, you can watch everybody else sweat the rest of the day. When you play that 8 o’clock game, everybody gets to watch you sweat,” Self said of Saturday college basketball.

“There’s nothing worse than not playing well in a Saturday afternoon game. Then you’ve got the rest of the day to watch tape,” he added.

Self likely will take tonight off to watch the Big 12 Conference football title game — or the UMass-Boston College hoops game on TV — if his Jayhawks (6-1) take care of business against the Tigers (1-7) of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Jackson State, which has yet to play a home game, has lost at LSU (79-65), Texas A&M (96-78), Illinois (78-64), North Texas (84-82), Stephen F. Austin (73-59) and Arizona State (81-60).

The Tigers beat North Carolina Central and lost to Texas A&M Corpus Christi at the South Padre Island Tournament.

“They haven’t been blown out anywhere,” Self said of the Tigers. “If we played every game on the road, we wouldn’t be 6-1 probably.”

He remains a bit concerned about KU’s defense in the wake of Wednesday’s 100-79 home victory over New Mexico State.

“We didn’t guard. They shot 47 percent in our building. The goal for us — at home — nobody should shoot 40 percent,” Self said.

KU has outscored its foes, 83.1 points to 62.3, and outshot opponents, 48.4 percent to 36.1, this season.

“I think our whole team is upset with giving up 79 points,” KU sophomore guard Tyrel Reed said. “We have to get better at that.”

The Jayhawks Wednesday did reach the century mark offensively for the seventh time in the Self era.

Reed, who was 4-of-19 from three entering the game, hit four of six treys, good for 12 points.

“Coach Self tells me and Brady (Morningstar) to keep shooting — no matter what — if we’re open,” Reed said. “It’s great to have the green light and be able to shoot when you are open. I just need to take advantage of that.”

Reed was quick to point out he didn’t play a perfect 21 minutes against the Aggies.

“It’s nice to hit four threes and make shots,” he said. “That’s a big thing, but the defensive mistakes I made … I’ve just got to get better every day.”

The 6-foot-3 Burlington native knows a way to guarantee success today.

“Play without looking at the scoreboard,” Reed said. “That’s coach’s main goal — play every possession like it really matters.”

Self says that’s not so hard to do.

“The best teams we’ve had love playing. They’d much rather play against other people (than practice),” Self said. “How can guys not be excited to play? I don’t buy into that philosophy that early in the season you could overlook somebody. Guys should be champing at the bit to play.”