FORT WORTH, Texas — Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson grabbed an offensive rebound and had the ball cradled into his body with both arms, with no intention of letting TCU take it away from him.
Coach Bill Self wasn’t pleased with how that play ended for his preseason AP All-American center, who never gave in as Trazarien White tried to wrestle the ball away — even after officials blew the whistle in the second half of the 12th-ranked Jayhawks’ 74-61 win Wednesday night.
“I thought it was asinine that our guy would hang onto the ball like that,” Self said.
The 7-foot-2 Dickinson and 6-6 White remained tangled even while stumbling out of bounds as whistles blew to stop the action. TCU guard Vasean Allette and freshman Malick Diallo also reached for the ball. Once Dickinson finally gave up the ball, officials reviewed the play and issued technical fouls to him and White.
“That was a bonehead play. But what made it a bonehead play as much as anything … when the whistle blows, you stop. And I’m sure they blew it several times,” Self said. “Cost us a possession, so yeah, I wasn’t happy to see that at all.”
The Horned Frogs had possession after the tie-up and White responded with an alley-oop dunk on a pass from Noah Reynolds with 12:44 left to put them up 48-47. That was the last time they led.
Dickinson, who finished with a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds, wasn’t one of the players who Kansas brought into the postgame interview.
TCU coach Jamie Dixon, who was at the opposite end of the court from where the players got tangled up, had a much different reaction to the play than Self.
“It was unimportant, I guess,” said Dixon, who didn’t think there was anything dirty or vicious about the play.
“I don’t even know what the T’s were for, but I guess the officials told them to stop. They didn’t do what they were told to do by the officials.”
