LAWRENCE, Kansas — Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton stopped Udoka Azubuike in the postgame handshake line near midcourt for an extended conversation.
Boynton pointed to the rafters of Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
His message to Kansas’ 7-foot senior center was simple: Keep playing like this and there will be another championship banner up there.
“I’m not afraid to say it,” Boynton said. “If Udoka Azubuike is going to make all of his free throws, they’re going to win a national championship.”
Azubuike didn’t make all of his free throws Monday night. But he made 7 of 8, banking in the first and failing to hit the basket on his lone miss.