KU basketball’s Zeke Mayo called his defense ‘atrocious.’ Coach Bill Self disagreed

Kansas guard Zeke Mayo, who followed his 26-point scoring outburst against North Carolina State on Dec. 14 with 25 points Sunday against Ivy League school Brown, acknowledges “things are clicking” for him on offense.

There’s more to basketball than putting dozens of points on the scoreboard, however, which is where Mayo the critic comes into play.

“I played atrocious on the defensive end,” Mayo, a 6-foot-4 transfer out of South Dakota State, said after the Jayhawks’ 87-53 pre-Christmas break rout of the Bears at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I’ve got to do a lot better individually — guard my man and keep him in front — but my teammates had my back,” Mayo added.

KU coach Bill Self was asked about Mayo’s personal assessment of his own play after a game in which the Lawrence High graduate hit 10 of 15 shots overall and went 5-of-8 from 3. He also grabbed eight rebounds and dished four assists against three turnovers in 26 minutes.

Mayo became the first Jayhawk newcomer to score 25 or more points in consecutive games against Div. I opposition since Dedric Lawson in 2018-19 against Northeastern and Auburn (Hunter Dickinson had 25 or more against Kentucky and Chaminade in 2023-24).

Additionally, Mayo on Sunday joined Lawson and Andrew Wiggins as the only Jayhawks to record 25-plus points in consecutive games against Div. I foes during their first season at Kansas.

“I would say that’s probably too harsh,” Self said of the “atrocious” tag. KU’s 22nd year coach, in fact, approved of Mayo’s defense against a Brown team that hit 20 of 75 shots for a dismal 26.7% (to KU’s 50% mark).

“Now if he was describing his ball handling, that would have been more fair because they took his ball twice,” Self added, smiling. “To be honest with you guys, I think Zeke Mayo is playing really well and he’s so confident. Those shots that he takes are so deep, but it doesn’t matter with him if they’re 18 feet or 24 feet. It’s the same percentage-type shots.

“So I’m happy with him and he’s showing people he’s got some game other than just shooting the ball, too. Zeke was terrific again.”

KU forward KJ Adams, who scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds in 29 minutes, praised Mayo for KU opening a 42-31 lead at halftime. Mayo scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting (3-for-4 from 3) the initial 20 minutes.

“He just connects everything together,” Adams said. “When he’s shooting 3s like he is, it’s almost like, ‘Move out of (the) way and let Zeke work.’ And when you get to that point of the game and he’s hitting shots, it all clicks together. Everybody has their intensity up on the offensive end.”

Mayo, whose KU teammates hit just 3-of-14 3s, said he’s extremely comfortable from beyond the arc. On occasion he’ll start with the ball past the 3-point line, then after driving, move back past the line to launch a 3.

“Not necessarily creating my own shot, but it’s something I’ve done for the past 2 1/2 years. So it’s something I’m good at, something I work on outside of team practices and stuff,” Mayo said, “I try my best to just play within our offense, play around Hunter (Dickinson, 15 points, 13 rebounds) Juan (Harris, two points, four assists, no turnovers) and obviously KJ when they’re getting downhill and I’m on the perimeter. I’m capable of making those plays so I’m going to continue to do so.”

Mayo was just two rebounds shy of a double-double.

“I felt like a ball magnet there early in the first half. I think I had six (rebounds) in the first half and I think I rebound pretty well for the guard position,” Mayo said. “I missed a few, let them get the offensive rebound there in the second half, but I was going for it. Trust me, I knew how many I had. I was going for it but just fell short.”

Brown grabbed 17 offensive rebounds to KU’s 11. Overall Brown had 40 boards to KU’s 50.

KU guard Shakeel Moore, who has played limited minutes this season because of a sore foot, contributed five points and blocked two shots in 14 minutes on a day Rylan Griffen played just 16 minutes after getting hit above the eye playing defense in the second half.

Griffen didn’t return to the game, yet Self said he should not miss any practice time.

“Yeah, it was amazing. He (Moore) has been battling a lot of injuries. Just to see him look like he’s almost to 100%, it was fun to watch,” Adams said of the senior transfer. “He’s been doing everything he needs to do treatment wise and it’s fun to watch him now get loose a little bit and do the fun things we know he is capable of.”

The Jayhawks, who coach Self said deserved a B-minus for their performance in the nonconference season, now break for Christmas. The players were allowed to fly to their hometowns on Sunday night. They are to return for practice the night of the 26th.

KU’s next game is the Big 12 opener against West Virginia (1 p.m., New Year’s Eve, Allen Fieldhouse).

Mayo doesn’t have to board any plane to get to his destination. He’ll be with relatives in Lawrence.

“I mean obviously I’m already home so I don’t have to go too far, but I mean for these guys and just being able to be back with their family, I know it’s special,” Mayo said. “I can’t really speak on their behalf, but just experiencing that in the past couple of years, being away from home and then having to come back, it’s definitely going to be a lot of fun for them. They’re going to feel that love when they get there.”