No. 7 Kansas closed out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a record of 9-2.

Coming off back-to-back wins against N.C. State and Brown, the Jayhawks are scheduled to open up Big 12 play at home against West Virginia on Tuesday.

On Monday afternoon, Bill Self talked about the importance of getting off to a fast start.

“I think it's imperative (to get off to a fast start), especially playing at home, to do that. Yeah, we need to play well against a really good team that's already beaten a team (Gonzaga) that basically handled us easily last year in the NCAA tournament and they got a great win against Arizona as well. So they've done a good job.

“Darian (DeVries) has done a great job in a short amount of time,” he added. “They’ve recruited well and done really well in the portal, and it'll be a hard game, but one that I think the intensity will be turned up a notch or two just because it's the start of conference play.”

West Virginia will enter Tuesday's game against Kansas with an overall record of 9-2. The Mountaineers' own victories over Robert Morris, UMass, Iona, Gonzaga, Arizona, Georgetown, North Carolina Central, Bethune-Cookman, and Mercyhurst. West Virginia's two setbacks came against Pittsburgh and Louisville.

Winners of five straight games, West Virginia is led by Javon Small, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard from South Bend, Ind.

Small, who began his career at Oklahoma State, is averaging 19.7 points per game.

“Well, what stands out to me more than anything is that we didn't get him,” said Self when asked about Jovan Small. “We recruited Javon and I think he's terrific. He's got size, he's 6-foot-4, he's strong. He can get off the bounce. He can get off the catch. He's a point that obviously can score off the ball. He's a good basketball player and he's off to a great start. And so he'll be a handful for us.

“We went back and watched the games last year at Oklahoma State to see how do we try to limit him and stuff like that,” he added. “And to be honest, I don't think we did a great job on him. I think he missed some shots, and he's probably making those same shots this year.”

Self and his staff will prepare for Tuesday's Big 12 opener against Oklahoma State not knowing the status of Tucker DeVries, the 6-foot-7, 200-pound guard/forward from Waukee, Iowa.

DeVries has missed the previous three games and it would appear that his status for tomorrow is unknown.

“I think that's a hard thing to prepare for because watching what they ran in the last three games compared to what they ran against Gonzaga and Arizona and Louisville are probably two different things because they can play,” said Self. “They played so much to getting him shots. And guys, I know you've seen probably him some on tape.

“He's not a good shooter,” he added. “He’s an elite guy shooting the basketball with range. That's really deep, and he's proven he can do it against the best competition, so it's probably a little bit different. So we'll prepare like he is, but not knowing at this point.”