photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas teammates Wayne Selden (1) and Jamari Traylor (31) celebrate a three pointer from reserve Evan Manning against Emporia State during the second half on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas teammates Wayne Selden (1) and Jamari Traylor (31) celebrate a three pointer from reserve Evan Manning against Emporia State during the second half on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014.

Another exhibition season is in the books for the Kansas University men’s basketball team and like most exhibition seasons that came before it, the Jayhawks learned a little, questioned a lot and got a few of the kinks worked out before kicking off the regular season against tougher competition and under more intense conditions.

KU coach Bill Self made no secret of the fact that he does not put too much stock into what happens in these exhibition games and he made it clear that he’s not an easy guy to impress in games like this, where the Jayhawks are far superior to their opponent in size, speed, depth and overall talent.

Take Tuesday’s effort by freshman forward Cliff Alexander, for example, in KU’s 109-56 victory over Emporia State.

Self said Alexander did not play well enough to score the 12 points he did, but got most of his buckets off of easy dunks and nice efforts by his teammates to set him up.

That’s not to say he doesn’t get some credit for his 12 points and 6 rebounds in 13 minutes, but it’s also not to say he’s the early leader for national freshman of the year. Somewhere in between is more likely.

I said it after the last game and I think it holds true after this one as well. The most important part of the exhibition schedule is not to see what kinds of numbers guys can put up but how guys play together, how they perform in front of a live crowd and how ready they are for the season. There were plenty of good moments and bad in both exhibition games, but the real answers to those questions will become a little clearer starting Friday night.

Quick takeaway

In addition to all of the nit-picky coaching ploys, Self also pointed out perhaps the most important aspect of these exhibition games and that’s that they give the young guys a chance to have some success and gain some confidence. Very few of KU’s games, if any, will be as easy as Tuesday night’s game was, but Alexander, Devonte’ Graham, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, Kelly Oubre and even guys like Hunter Mickelson and Landen Lucas were able to experience domination, finishing plays and feeling the love from the Allen Fieldhouse faithful. It may sound ridiculous to say those types of things are an adjustment, but even the good things take some getting used to and these young Jayhawks now have had a small taste.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas head coach Bill Self takes a knee to talk with some of the freshman during the second half on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014.

Three reasons to smile:

1 – Any time you can put eight guys in double figures, that’s a good night. I don’t care who it comes against. And here’s why: It proves that you’ve got an unselfish team that plays together and plays for the best/right shots, not just a bunch of individuals looking to get theirs. Any number of these guys probably could’ve scored 30 last night, but their unselfishness — and, of course, the substitution pattern — spread the wealth and allowed a lot of guys to leave the gym feeling good about their efforts instead of just two or three.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Brannen Greene slaps hands with teammate Hunter Mickelson after a turnover by Emporia State during the first half on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014.

2 – Brannen Greene looked incredibly active on the offensive end, both in terms of looking for his shot and going after the offensive boards and loose balls. This was a great sign for two reasons: 1. Greene’s coming off of a head injury and looked to be fine. 2. The more he can “plug himself in” to all aspects of the game and not just float around as a shooter/scorer, the greater his chances become of being a regular part of the rotation.

3 – KU drastically improved its free throw shooting in this one, which was pretty much a lock to predict but still good to see. After knocking in just 50 percent from the line against Washburn last week, the Jayhawks hit 25 of 32 free throws (78 percent) vs. Emporia State and looked a lot less rusty every time they stepped to the line. They focused on this a little in practice and, clearly it worked, but Self has always said he’s never been a big fan of spending too much practice time on free throw shooting so it’s clear that these guys took it as a personal challenge to improve the stat.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Cliff Alexander delivers on a dunk past Emporia State guard Jay Temaat during the second half on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014.

Three reasons to sigh:

1 – Self said it and we already alluded to it above, but Cliff Alexander clearly was a little off against the Hornets. Maybe he was just trying too hard or pressing too much, but after sitting for nearly the first 10 minutes of the game, Alexander came in and missed a shot he forced, traveled on another possession and picked up two quick fouls. He eventually settled down and rocked the rim a few times to finish with a pretty good line, but the thing worth focusing on was not his numbers against inferior talent but why he sat so long before coming in.

2 – Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk started but did not do much to take advantage of the opportunity. He missed four of five shots — which happens — and picked up three boards, two turnovers and two assists in 18 minutes. He looks great at times, especially defensively and any time he releases a jumper, but also did not go all-out after a few loose balls and looked a little sloppy handling the ball. It wouldn’t surprise me for a second if this was just because of the nerves associated with starting for the first time. These guys are all still young, but especially Mykhailiuk.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk defends against Emporia State guard Tyler Jordan during the first half on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014.

3 – The Jayhawks dominated the glass — 45-29 — but still gave up 10 offensive boards to an undersized ESU team. Some of them were just loose ball pick-ups and the like, but there were a couple of moments, especially in the first half, when the Hornets got second- and third-chance opportunities.

One for the road:

KU’s 109-56 runaway victory over Emporia State…

• Made Kansas 65-9 in exhibition games.

• Extended KU’s home exhibition winning streak to 42 games, dating back to the 1994 season.

• Upped Kansas’ all-time record against Emporia State to 20-3 in favor of the Jayhawks, including 7-0 in exhibition games.

• Improved head coach Bill Self to a 33-2 record in exhibition games at Kansas, including 24-0 in home exhibition contests.

• Made KU 56-4 in exhibition games inside Allen Fieldhouse.

Next up

The Jayhawks officially will open the 2014-15 season Friday night at 7 p.m. against UC-Santa Barbara at Allen Fieldhouse.

By the numbers: Kansas vs. Emporia State, Nov. 11, 2014