Self on UMKC

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self doesn’t expect an easy time tonight against UMKC, a squad that dropped its season opener to North Dakota, 61-56, Friday night on the Kangaroos’ campus.

“They played us well here last year, and we had a pretty nice team,” Self said. His eventual national champions led by 10 points with 8:41 left before storming to an 85-62 victory.

“I respect their style of play,” Self added, referring to “a lot of back-cutting, a takeoff of the Princeton-style offense. You have to get to their three-point shooters and not give up layups, which is easier said than done.”

UMKC’s best shooter is 6-foot-4 senior Dane Brumagin, who hit 45.1 percent of his threes last season en route to a 17.1 scoring average. Brumagin – he scored 11 points versus KU last year – scored 11 points off 5-of-13 shooting versus UND.

Big night for Davises

Two members of the Davis family will broadcast tonight’s 7:30 p.m. game. Bob Davis is in his 25th year as KU radio play-by-play announcer. His son, Steven, a former KU hoops student manager, is in his first season as voice of the Kangaroos.

Steven also is voice for the K.C. Royals Double-A affiliate, the Northwest Naturals of Springdale, Ark. Bob is one of the Royals’ announcers.

Crazy tourney

This game is actually part of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic, which does not have a usual tournament format. KU will play host to UMKC tonight and Florida Gulf Coast at 8 p.m., Tuesday. The Jayhawks also will play Washington at 9 p.m., Nov. 24 at Sprint Center, and either Florida or Syracuse at 6:45 p.m. or 9:15 p.m. on Nov. 25.