Kansas head coach Bill Self is greeted by Kansas center Udoka Azubuike's brother Chima Azuonwu following The Jayhawks' 83-58 win over Oklahoma State on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020 at Allen Fieldhouse.

When Udoka Azubuike’s older brother texted him Sunday afternoon and said he planned to come to Kansas’ game on Monday, the senior center thought it was a joke.

“I thought he was just messing around,” Azubuike said after Monday’s 83-58 win over Oklahoma State at Allen Fieldhouse. “It was kind of surprising. I tried to put him on the ticket list, but I didn’t think I was going to see him.”

But sure enough, shortly before tipoff on Monday, Azubuike saw his brother Chima Azuonwu sitting off the court, waiting to watch his first Kansas basketball game in person.

Azubuike said it had been 10 years since the two last saw each other in their native Nigeria.

“I saw him sitting there and it was kind of a surprising moment for me,” Azubuike recalled. “I went over there and gave him a hug.”

ESPN cameras caught the interaction, and Azubuike was still buzzing about it after putting on a show for his 6-foot-11 brother, who played college basketball at Tennessee State, and the rest of the Allen Fieldhouse crowd. Azubuike had 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting, a 7-of-8 clip from the free throw line, 16 rebounds and three blocks in 27 minutes.

After the game, Azuonwu met with a few media members in the tunnel the Jayhawks run out of before games. He said he was just as excited for the reunion as Azubuike was.

“It wasn’t a surprise,” Azuonwu said. “It’s just that, when you haven’t seen someone in such a long time, you’re just like shocked and you are very happy and so excited.”

Nothing his younger brother did on the court surprised Azuonwu, either.

“Yes, I already know that he’s a beast,” Azuonwu said. “He goes hard and he plays really good basketball. He’s tough to guard, and I encourage him to continue to put in that work.”

Azuonwu, 23, left Nigeria a few years before Azubuike, 20, did. When he came to the U.S., Azuonwu attended Darien High School in Connecticut and then landed at Tennessee State for college. After redshirting the 2014-15 season, Azuonwu chose to transfer away from Tennessee State and called it a career shortly after that.

Azuonwu, who studied criminal justice in college, currently lives in Nashville and watches the Jayhawks whenever he gets the opportunity.

“I was excited, man,” he said of seeing it live. “I see him dominating and watch him on ESPN. It’s so amazing to watch him play, and also I’m a big fan of this team, too. I always pray that God continues to guide them and protect them.”

Even though they aren’t able to see each other much, Azuonwu said his bond with his brother is still strong.

“We do communicate when we have the time,” Azuonwu said. “He’s so busy, with basketball and school, and, me, I’m busy, too. But if I have the time, I communicate with him because there’s nothing like blood, you know?”

Nearing the end of his most productive season as a Jayhawk, Azubuike is making a major impact night in and night out. After burying Baylor to the tune of 23 points and 19 rebounds last weekend, he followed it up with a big night — in limited minutes — on Monday.

He has 13 double-doubles this season, which leads the Big 12 Conference, and five of them have come in the last seven outings.

“We’ve been trying to tell Dok all along that he can dominate a game without having to get a lot of touches, and that’s the case,” KU coach Bill Self said after Monday’s victory. “He’s the best defensive center we’ve had since I’ve been here. We’ve had some good ones. You look at (Jeff) Withey, you look at Cole (Aldrich), but he’s the best.”

Azubuike said Monday that the past few weeks have been the most fun of his career, and having his brother watching made things even better.

“It means a lot,” Azubuike said. “I’m so happy that he was able to witness and see me play. It was nice.”

Azuonwu had some words of encouragement for Azubuike after the game.

“I told him, ‘Good job, man. You’re balling hard,'” Azuonwu said. “‘I hope we get to continue to talk more because you’re my brother and I’m the biggest fan of your team.'”

“He was like congratulating me and saying he was proud of me,” Azubuike said. “It was like a brother moment.”

After the postgame media sessions were over and the autograph line outside the KU locker room had disappeared, Azubuike approached his brother and pulled him away from answering questions.

“That’s enough,” Azubuike said with a grin. “We’ve got to go.”

Together, they walked up the ramp past the Kansas locker room and headed back to KU’s McCarthy Hall to close that 10-year gap a little more.

After what he experienced on Monday night — both the reunion and the exciting display of basketball dominance — Azuonwu said the wait for their next get-together will not be nearly as long as this one was.

“Yes, I will be at some more games in the future,” he said. “… I just think it’s amazing.”