Three Takeaways: Kansas defeats West Virginia in Big 12 Quarterfinals.

The Kansas Jayhawks have advanced to the Big 12 Championship semifinals thanks to a 78-61 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City on Thursday. And it was good to see a win after all of the worrying news coming into the game, from a Bill Self illness to back spasms that kept Kevin McCullar out of the starting lineup. But there is still a lot of postseason left for Kansas, so let's look at what we learned in today's victory:

"Next man up", even for the coaches.

Don't get me wrong, everyone would rather have Self at the helm of this team. But he is out for at least the rest of the Big 12 Tournament for an undisclosed illness, per a release from Kansas Athletics.

Both Jalen Wilson and Gradey Dick talked in the postgame press conference about that next man up mentality and that they understood it applied to the coaches as well.

But that has been the theme all year long for this team. Joseph Yesufu, who stepped into the starting lineup for the limited McCullar, played well in spurts, combining with Bobby Pettiford to give McCullar and Dajuan Harris enough rest to get the job done.

And Norm Roberts already has a successful stint stepping in for Self this season, as he coached the first few games while Self served a university-imposed suspension. 

The Jayhawks are at home away from home.

I asked Dick about his first experience in the Big 12 Tournament, and talked about how comfortable he was here, especially how often he would come with his family as a kid. But his answers hinted at something I've noticed about this team multiple times: that these Jayhawks have an uncanny ability to create a level of energy consistent with being at home no matter where they are.

Yes, being in Kansas City, where the Jayhawks will have a large contingent of friendly fans in the building any particular night, is a big help. But we have seen them feed off their own energy, or even transform energy from a hostile crowd into fuel for their runs.

And with a likely path through the NCAA Tournament that goes from Des Moines, IA to Kansas City, MO to Houston, TX, the Jayhawks are going to have friendly crowds the rest of the way.

Dajuan Harris

That's it. That's the takeaway. I don't need to say more.

Ok fine, I'll elaborate.

I can't count the number of times last year that we all lamented about Dajuan Harris filling the Marcus Garrett role on the offense: a team first assist machine that created a huge hole because he never looked to shoot. But with a defense as dominant as his and the ability to get others involved in the offense, the Jayhawks had the weapons to scheme around a less than stellar offensive effort from Harris.

But they don't have that luxury this year. They have a rotation of basically six and a half players, with Yesufu, Pettiford and Ernest Udeh stepping in for limited roles. They just don't have the ability to cobble together an effective lineup without Harris having success. And we've seen that in his off nights, where the Jayhawks just don't seem to have enough to keep up.

But tonight, he was masterful on offense. When West Virginia denied him the opportunity to bring up the ball, he instead flared out onto the sideline to set up a baseline drive. When West Virginia adjusted to that, he started driving into the lane for some success. From there, he turned into an assist machine, throwing lobs over the defenders with perfect placement for finishes, even from past halfcourt. And then finally, when West Virginia collapsed to take that away, he started taking wide open threes to keep them honest.

The fact that he has made this development without losing a step in his defense is amazing. It may not be a popular opinion, but there is an argument to be made that Harris has developed into the most complete player on the team, even ahead of guys like Kevin McCullar and Jalen Wilson. And when you think about it, that's probably the highest praise I can give him.

But don't take it from me, take it from his teammate:

Join the discussion! Come talk about this or any of our articles on the Blue Wing Rising Discord Server.

Follow Blue Wings Rising on Twitter.

Listen to the official podcast of Blue Wings Rising: The Rock Chalk Podcast.