Kansas head coach Bill Self is greeted warmly by his former player Louisville forward Flory Bidunga (40) following the Jayhawks’ 89-83 loss to the Cardinals in an exhibition on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug/Special to the Journal-World

You wouldn’t know at first from listening to the Kansas players in Wednesday night’s press conference, with Melvin Council Jr. taking responsibility for insufficient defense and Tre White speaking about learning from the “pain,” that the game they had just lost didn’t count.

KU coach Bill Self, for his part, didn’t hesitate much when he took questions postgame before saying, “I don’t want to sound happy by any means, but I thought that was a perfect game for us.”

Self thought the Jayhawks could learn plenty from the ways they were deficient in specific late-game situations — they drew within two points in the final minute before fading — but he also noted some positives in the 89-83 loss at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I thought we played hard, we played well, we were terrible (situationally), which that’s what these games are for,” Self said. “They played their (butt) off and shot it unbelievably well, and had a big guy make four 3s that we were going to give them that. We wouldn’t next time we play them, but we were going to give him that tonight, anyway.”

Indeed, the long-distance shooting of Louisville’s Obinna Ekezie Jr., whom KU once recruited (he reclassified from 2027 to join the Cardinals), was a big point of differentiation in the second half — he went 3-for-3, at one point hitting back-to-back 3s with less than nine minutes left when the momentum had swung in the Jayhawks’ favor.

So it didn’t stay with them for long, but the end result won’t count by the time the calendar flips to next month.

“I think it should hurt when you don’t win,” Self said, “but guys, I hate to say this, there’s one purpose for this game: It’s to make us better the first week in November, and I think it accomplished that. They shouldn’t be down — we could get pretty good.”

Here are some more notable takeaways from Wednesday’s exhibition loss:

• Flory Bidunga’s return to Allen Fieldhouse was always going to be a major storyline of Wednesday’s exhibition, and while it might not have been surprising that he ended up on the receiving end of vociferous boos from Jayhawk fans — although Council and White said they didn’t expect it — somewhat uglier were the “(expletive) you, Flory” chants from the student section earlier in the game.

Those prompted an early reminder about good sportsmanship and then, a few minutes into the game, an announcement from the public-address system discouraging derogatory chants. At that point, the KU fans segued to chanting Paul Mbiya’s name instead, inspired by his strong defense against Bidunga.

“I see the work that he put in day and night,” Council said of Mbiya. “Last year he was a very good piece for us in practice getting Flory better, and tonight he did an excellent job on Flory.”

As for Bidunga, it wasn’t necessarily a memorable night on the court — he was limited to five points and three rebounds and dealt with some foul trouble — but he did defend Tyran Stokes well and grab a significant offensive board late.

“A freak athlete, had good players around him,” White said. “I feel like we did a good job on our end tonight, though, making it tough for him. They just capitalized on rebounds and won more plays, stuff like that.”

More generally, Bidunga appeared to be quite at ease with his situation after what his head coach Pat Kelsey called “a difficult week for him.” Pregame, he was all smiles, hyping up his teammates’ dunks in warmups. At various points he greeted KU associate head coach Jeremy Case, waved to fans in the stands and cupped his ears to the crowd when they booed him as he exited the floor.

The Jayhawks, especially Council, greeted him with some physicality early. Taylen Kinney got called for an early foul for contact against Bidunga. And Council wagged a finger at him at one point after swiping the ball from him in the corner near KU’s bench.

Ultimately, the foul trouble — and the production of Louisville guard Jackson Shelstad and Ekezie — confined Bidunga’s return to the periphery of Wednesday night’s contest.

“I think he’s relieved to have it over with, to be honest with you,” Kelsey said.

• Council, who made matters quite difficult for opposing guards last season, was disappointed with his performance on Shelstad, the Oregon transfer who scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half.

He said he should have taken on guarding Shelstad in a box-and-one like he did with Ja’Kobi Gillespie when KU played Tennessee last November in the Players Era.

“I should have (done) that tonight as a leader and a captain of this team,” Council said, “so I take full responsibility for — how much he had on us? — 23. Those 23, all on me.”

The Jayhawks fell into a familiar rhythm as they attempted to rally on Wednesday, with Council serving as the primary engine of their offense. It paid dividends at times and made them stagnant at others; it certainly transformed them into a facsimile of the 2025-26 squad.

“One thing I want to get away from is Melvin having to have the ball to play well,” Self said, “because even tonight, you said it, he was the one involved with a lot of momentum plays because he had the ball. We need to get where we’re balanced enough where everybody can do it.”

Self noted that when Stokes has the ball in his hands, it can also stick with him at times in a similar fashion.

• KU changed its starting lineup dramatically from Late Night in the Phog, retaining only Kinney and Stokes and swapping in Council, White and Mbiya for Leroy Blyden Jr., Keanu Dawes and Christian Reeves.

Self said he wanted to give Mbiya the chance to battle against Bidunga and that Reeves will be able to start again against Duke, his former team.

He also said that Blyden will swap in for Kinney when the Blue Devils come to town on Sunday at noon.

• It doesn’t seem like there’s any need to worry about Kinney having played just 21 minutes, including seven in the second half. Self said he had cramps and got an IV.

“It wasn’t as hot in there as it will be Sunday, but it was still pretty warm in there,” Self said. “But he only played 20 minutes. We need (him) and Leroy to both be more productive.”

• Newly acquired former Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn didn’t play on Wednesday. Self said he isn’t ready physically and needs to get in better game shape before making his KU debut.

But the 24th-year head coach said he hopes and expects that Kaufman-Renn, a former first-team All-Big Ten selection, will be ready for the start of the season when KU hosts Fordham on Nov. 2.

• KU acknowledged former head coach Ted Owens, who spent 19 years leading the Jayhawks with two Final Four appearances, on the court during Wednesday’s exhibition. Owens was in town for his induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Thursday at the College Basketball Experience at the T-Mobile Center.

“He’s the best,” Self said of Owens. “We’ve been on many trips together, and we’ve been roommates on almost all of those trips, whether it be in Bandon Dunes (Golf Resort) or Scotland or wherever it was. He’s 97 years old, and at 87 or whatever, he’s walking 18 or 36 holes a day. He’s an amazing guy. I’ll say one thing about Coach: I don’t know that I’ve ever been around a coach who keeps track of and follows his players, his ex-players better than he does.”