The Kansas basketball team played their second straight Pac 12 team Sunday. The Jayhawks lost to Arizona State 95-85.
Sunday’s Kansas basketball game didn’t end the way fans expected. As a matter of fact, after that fast, furious start many fans relaxed. What do you expect after a 15-2 lead to start the game? That lead was the Jayhawks’ biggest of the game and didn’t last long. Arizona State played through the tough start. The Jayhawks didn’t respond.
At the midpoint of the first half Arizona State pulled to within 23-20. At that point, I didn’t think the Jayhawks were headed to Bill Self’s 11th loss all time in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks still held a 3-point lead at the half but they didn’t seem confident.
You can’t blame this loss on any one or two players. The Jayhawks gave up 58 second half points. They aren’t going to win many games doing that. The team defense was ineffective for the second straight game.
In addition, the Jayhawks made a late run Sunday. They made a similar run Wednesday against Washington. It didn’t matter. The Sun Devils did just about anything they wanted. The Huskies did the same at Sprint Center.
The Jayhawks and Sun Devils both hit 14 shots from beyond the arc. However, Kansas basketball needed 10 more shots to make their 14 three pointers. Svi Mykhailiuk especially had a difficult time on offense until late. He was 0-9 to start and finally hit his first shot with 6-minutes left in the game.
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In the Bill Self era, the Jayhawks almost never lose back to back games thanks to their play in Allen Fieldhouse. Sunday’s loss hurt. They have a week off to think about what they need to do to improve.