Kansas center Udoka Azubuike (35) shows his frustration after a charge during the second half, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Every head coach who is about to lead his players up against the Kansas basketball team this season builds a game plan around trying to stop the Jayhawks’ senior center, Udoka Azubuike.

Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse, one of the best tacticians in the country, Texas Tech’s Chris Beard, didn’t even really have to show his hand.

Typically one of college basketball’s most dominant big men, Azubuike wasn’t himself, and the Red Raiders got to play a little more than 24 minutes of a game that came down to the wire with the 7-footer watching from a seat on KU’s bench.

As a result, a Texas Tech team that scored 54 points on the road recently at both West Virginia and TCU nearly upset KU, in a 78-75 Jayhawks win.

Azubuike must have fouled out for that to be the case, right? Not even close.

True, early foul trouble limited his first-half minutes and a third whistle sent him back to the bench three minutes into the second half. But a fourth foul never came.

When KU coach Bill Self turned to Azubuike later on in the second half, the big man played so out of character that Self saw no reason to keep him in for long.

An imposing defender on most days, Azubuike even sat the final 1:39 of a tight Big 12 game, a week removed from closing out a nonconference home win over Tennessee by swatting shots and wagging his finger in the air, Dikembe Mutombo style.

So what exactly led to Azubuike’s off day?

“I think a lot of it was Udoka,” Self said, following his starting center’s afternoon of 5 points and eight rebounds in 15:50 of action. “I thought Tech did a good job. But I think that the job that they did and the foul problems got to him a little bit.”

This wasn’t the same Azubuike who came in averaging 11.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.7 blocks in Big 12 play.

Self pointed to one out-of-bounds set in particular as an example of the apparent funk his big man got into. KU’s usually overpowering post player caught the ball in the paint and threw a pass outside with the shot clock running down instead of going up strong and attacking the basket.

“I mean, he just wasn’t into it,” Self said.

The No. 3 Jayhawks (18-3 overall, 7-1 Big 12) at least had a real backup center to throw at the Red Raiders (13-8, 4-4).

Especially from a defensive standpoint, KU sophomore David McCormack isn’t peak Azubuike — McCormack will tell you that, too. And although the sophomore looked excited to be back from his two-game suspension, McCormack’s play early on versus Tech wasn’t sending that type of message to Self.

“I thought, to be real candid, he wasn’t very good at all to start,” KU’s coach said. “And they shot two balls right in front of his face and he didn’t jump. And I didn’t think he was very good.”

That would soon change, once Self got after his backup big on the sideline.

“But then after he got mad I thought he was really good,” Self said. “I thought he was a really good player the last 30 minutes of the game, in the minutes that he got — really good.”

The 6-foot-10 McCormack provided 6 points, six rebounds and, even more importantly, three blocked shots in 19-plus minutes off the bench.

McCormack said Self stayed on him and made sure he played with high intensity and energy, because sluggishness wouldn’t be an option at any point of the game.

“It was a booster, encouraged me,” McCormack said of Self’s challenging and motivational words. “Just to make sure I need to take away the things I need to take away, just work harder, do the right things, compete, make the right plays.”

The backup center played 11 second-half minutes against Tech and provided KU with some of the rim protection it wasn’t getting from Azubuike on this particular day.

McCormack heard from Self that he needed to deter the Red Raiders’ shots inside and turn those possibly good attempts into bad ones if he couldn’t block them.

“I listened to that,” McCormack said, “and just did what I needed to do.”

On a normal day for Azubuike, McCormack isn’t asked to do as much for KU because he isn’t on the floor nearly as often. But this was an irregular game for the Jayhawks’ most important player, and McCormack did just enough to help Kansas leave the fieldhouse victorious.

“Dok just had an off game,” McCormack said, “as well as every great player has had before. So, I mean, we’re still here, we’re still supporting him. It’s not like we look at him any differently. So just cheering him on and moving on to the next game.”

The Jayhawks won’t win many games in March relying on McCormack instead of Azubuike. But they inevitably will have to figure out ways to win stretches of many games, regular season and postseason alike, without their 7-footer on the floor. On Saturday they at least survived without him against an NCAA Tournament-worthy opponent.

Sophomore point guard Devon Dotson considered it a good sign that Kansas won on a day that Azubuike wasn’t the center who has been controlling both ends of the floor.

“I mean, that’s how some games go in conference play and all throughout the season,” Dotson said. “There’s going to be times when a player doesn’t have it or it’s just foul trouble. It’s got to be next man up, ready to play. I thought the guys did a pretty good job rallying around the team and making some key plays. But, I mean, we’re always going to need him.”

The abnormal performance from Azubuike and Tech’s responsive rally looked like it might add up to a KU loss. Somehow, the Jayhawks still pulled off the victory.

They can’t afford many more days like this from their star center. But if the reinvigorated Azubuike has proven anything this year, it’s that he’s capable of putting this type of game behind him.