Has KU basketball solidified starting 5? Bill Self confirms transfer will start again

Shakeel Moore has started 69 of 130 games played in his five year college basketball career, which has included stops at Mississippi State, North Carolina State and Kansas.

His one start in six games so far at KU proved so successful — in Sunday’s 99-48 victory at UCF — that the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Greensboro, North Carolina native has been penciled in to open Wednesday’s 8 p.m. home game against Arizona State. It’ll be shown live on ESPN2.

“Yes, he’ll start tomorrow. I’m actually envisioning that right now, (but) you guys worry about that stuff far more than I do,” KU coach Bill Self said at a news conference Tuesday to preview the Big 12 battle between a pair of teams with 10-3 overall records, 1-1 in league competition.

“I actually thought Shak was great (against UCF). I thought everybody played well, but I think he contributed to us being able to guard them the way that we need to guard them — with strength and quickness. I think that there were some things that happened that were good for us with Shak being out there,” Self added.

Moore hit two 3s, which accounted for his six points. He also had six assists against two turnovers with three rebounds in 20 minutes. He played great defense on UCF guard Darius Johnson, holding him to three points on 1-of-8 shooting.

“We were actually better with Shak starting. We had a defensive mindset right from the get go with him starting,” Self said.

Meanwhile, junior guard Rylan Griffen, who has started seven games at KU, hit four 3s and finished with 14 points in 18 minutes. Senior AJ Storr, who has started four games, had 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 15 minutes

“It’s not bad for AJ to see that,” Self said of former Wisconsin guard Storr seeing the importance of defense to a team.

“Rylan got in the game and did what he does, shoots the ball when he’s got space. But is that really why he played well?” Self asked. “How many times did Rylan dive on a loose ball? How many times did he get us an extra possession, which gives him confidence to shoot the ball in other situations? Because he knows he’s not coming out because he’s doing nothing.

“So I thought the other day was a great day for both AJ and Rylan. But I didn’t think it was one of those days that, hey, we were positively better with this guy in the game over that guy in the game. You know, you can make a case that Flory Bidunga was the best player in the game. But, you know, Hunter still gets 21 (points) first half.”

Hunter Dickinson scored 27 points with nine rebounds. Bidunga had 12 points and five rebounds.

For his part, Moore said it does not matter if he starts or comes off the bench during his one season at KU.

“I’ve been to a school where I started every game, and then I’ve been to a school where I came off the bench. I just really want to help my team win,” Moore said Tuesday.

He said one of the reasons he’s playing better is he’s now “very close” to being 100% healthy. He had foot surgery in early September and was forced to miss several games because of lingering pain in the foot.

“I still feel a little bit of pain after the game, maybe a little bit of soreness, but it’s getting better and better each day,” Moore said. “I still get in there for therapy, treatment. I’d say I”m about 95%. I’m moving quicker laterally. Everything is coming together.”

Moore said mentally he trusts the stability in his surgically repaired foot.

“That process is actually cleared up for me now. That mental block is tough coming off an injury. I definitely will say I got past it. I don’t think about it now,” said Moore, who for the season has scored 15 points with eight assists to five turnovers (and two steals) in six games.

He said only recently “I started to feel like myself getting back in rhythm. I would say I need to keep grinding, keep staying down. It doesn’t matter what I play, five minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes. I’ll go in and give 100% for sure.”

Self said he’s hoping the Jayhawks continue to play like what he calls “a (ticked) off team.”

“It was just one win, but the mindset was different,” he said of the rout in Florida. “You get somebody down, you don’t want to say, ‘Well, we’ve got a cushion.’ You still want to play like the score is 0-0 or behind. Our guys did a good job of that.”