Column: Thinking longterm, Self benches Alexander in second half

Iowa State forward Dustin Hogue (22) puts up a three against Kansas forward Cliff Alexander (2) during the first half on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015 at Hilton Coliseum.

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Ames, Iowa ? Youth, the lack of a typical rim protector and so-so offensive firepower combine to make the margin for error for the Kansas University basketball team smaller this season than in most.

But if you think that is going to make KU coach Bill Self dumb down his standards, then you must not have watched Iowa State sprint to an 86-81 victory against Kansas in amped-up Hilton Coliseum, leaving the teams tied for second in the Big 12 standings, a half game behind surprising Kansas State.

Landen Lucas didn’t have the speed to keep pace with the Cyclones big men and Jamari Traylor lacked the basketball savvy. They combined to play 34 minutes of scoreless basketball with two rebounds.

Freshman Cliff Alexander, far more physically gifted than Lucas and able to bank on a longer organized basketball history than Traylor, played 14 minutes and produced six points, six rebounds and a blocked shot, all of that production coming in 12 first-half minutes.

Self had a choice to make: Let Alexander get away with lazy second-half defense and thereby let the center with the high ceiling know his focus can drift without consequence, or he could bench him and let him think about how he could have been running and jumping instead of sitting and watching.

Self decided to stick with the approach that has delivered Kansas 10 consecutive Big 12 titles. The coach doesn’t like his team’s chances without Alexander becoming the best he can be, so he’s gambling that the playing-time carrot will rev Alexander’s engine.

“I didn’t play him much the second half,” Self said. “I didn’t think his motor was very good tonight. That was the reason.”

So he went with Lucas and Traylor, players who tried but couldn’t do it. Self explained how he arrived at the decision to limit Alexander to two second-half minutes.

“I think the big thing is you’ve got to play with a motor,” he repeated. “When you’re guarding a guy that’s active on the perimeter (Georges Niang), you’ve got to at least close out or be in a stance and do some things to try to guard him. I didn’t think that was the case at all.”

As Alexander sat, the only big man who had any sort of production other than Perry Ellis (19 points, 11 rebounds), was Hunter Mickelson, not much of a threat offensively and challenged moving laterally. Mickelson had four rebounds in three minutes.

It’s not as if Self isn’t aware that Alexander can do more than any of the inside players vying for time alongside Ellis, but Self also is more aware than anybody of how far Alexander is from reaching his potential.

“Although he can put up some numbers, we’re not going to win consistently unless he plays with a motor, and he won’t play well consistently unless he plays with more of a motor,” Self said.

The bright side: Alexander should be well-rested and highly motivated for Monday night’s game in Allen Fieldhouse vs. a talented, experienced Oklahoma team.

Even if Ellis plays as well Monday as he did Saturday, he could use more help inside than he received in Hilton Coliseum, and Alexander is the one best equipped to give it to him.