The Kansas Jayhawks will enter Friday night’s contest against the Yale Bulldogs expecting to take care of business and win, but head coach Bill Self is hoping that his team does not coast to the finish before winter break.

“We need to make sure Christmas is on the 25th, or the 24th to open presents, because it’s not on the 22nd,” Self said.

Self mentioned losses by No. 5 Connecticut and No.6 Maquette earlier this week when he was talking about the way that college basketball teams can let the games before break slip.

He also mentioned some of his own mishaps that have taken place during his time at Kansas.

“It’s happened to us, I’ve seen it first hand,” Self said. “We go to Villanova when we got snowed in one year and that’s the most miserable trip ever. We go to Temple not that long ago at all and we left out of there with a 20-point knot on our head.”

With a fair share of disappointed feelings heading into the break, Self is hoping that the Bulldogs are not going to add to that. He respects what they are bringing into Allen Fieldhouse.

“I think they’re really well coached,” Self said. “They’re picked to win the Ivy if I’m not mistaken,”

Last season, Yale and Princeton were tied at the top of the league in the regular season. Shortly after, Princeton was in the Sweet 16 of the tournament. Self sees a lot of potential in his opponents.

“They’ve got guys that can shoot the basketball, they’ve got a 7-foot center that’s 12-of-25 from three for the year and can score and pass like Hunter [Dickinson] and I’m not exaggerating.

Danny Wolf is the player drawing a comparison to the Jayhawks’ inside presence. Wolf is averaging 13.6 points per game and nine rebounds. He can stretch the floor just like Dickinson, and the rest of the team can shoot well too, shooting just under 35% from deep as a team.

“They’ll be hard to guard and they really move the ball and if you’re a half step behind you’re way behind,” Self said.

Yale will present plenty of challenges for Kansas if they do not approach the game in the right way, but KJ Adams wants to treat them with a higher sense of urgency, especially after seeing other high-ranked opponents take losses around the country.

“Don’t fall asleep,” Adams said. “Take every team like it’s the best team we’re going to play. You see a lot of high-ranked teams losing right now so we just got to make sure we don’t check out.”