Kansas basketball: Jayhawks can still accomplish their goal

Kansas basketball dropped a third home game of the season Saturday. The Jayhawks are still in first place but have to a lot of work to earn another conference title.

Just when you were getting comfortable with this year’s Kansas basketball team, they didn’t show up Saturday. Bill Self’s guys started February the same way they started January. They lost a conference game in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks, who have not lost three Allen Fieldhouse games in the same season since the 98-99, brought no energy, didn’t play much defense and ran out of time.

Oklahoma State also out rebounded the Big 12 Conference co-leaders. We are used to this Jayhawk team getting beaten on the glass. On the other hand, we are not used watching them give up 26 second chance points. Coach Self will have an answer and hopefully we won’t see that again this season.

Senior leaders Devonte Graham and Svi Mykhailiuk are trying but can’t do everything. Graham struggled with a sore leg that limited his ability on both ends of the court. Svi didn’t have a great day on offense Saturday but still scored 17 points and played outstanding defense.

Malik Newman scored 16 and hustled to 5 rebounds. He seems to always be in the right place at the right time. Udoka Azubuike had a rather quiet 20 points and 5 rebounds in 21 minutes. He proved he can hit free throws too.

The missing link seems to be Lagerald Vick. In 34 minutes against the Pokes, the junior scored 5 points and had 3 turnovers. There is no reason to blame him for Saturday’s outcome. However, he doesn’t seem to bring the same energy fans saw earlier in the season. Self doesn’t have many other options. The Jayhawk bench Mitch Lightfoot, Marcus Garrett and Silvio DeSousa had 4 points and 5 rebounds in the loss.

Next: This Jayhawk team is mentally tough

The Jayhawks will recover from Saturday’s loss. This team is mentally tough. They dug an 18-point hole and simply waited too long to make a run. In November, Self said a 5-loss team could still win the Big 12 title. The Jayhawks can still accomplish that goal. The 1988 Jayhawks lost three games at the Fieldhouse and that ended just fine.