Kansas basketball: Jayhawks back on track after pair of wins over Wildcats

Kansas fans aren’t used to seeing their basketball team struggle like they were the past couple of weeks.

For just the fourth time under head coach Bill Self the Jayhawks suffered a three-game losing streak following losses at Kansas State, home against TCU, and at Baylor.

Pardon the cliché Chicken Little reference, but there was definitely a “sky is falling” type of sentiment among many fans who were desperate to get back on the winning track and get this season turned around.

Blue blood battle

Thankfully that began last weekend when the Jayhawks went on the road and beat the Kentucky Wildcats in Rupp Arena by a score of 77-68.

KU was able to overcome a raucous crowd and did a great job of limiting Kentucky’s star big man Oscar Tshiebwe. Although he finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds, the Jayhawks were able to make his life difficult for him, especially on the boards, thanks to the stellar play of freshman Ernest Udeh and senior Kevin McCullar.

McCullar, who had been struggling in the last few games leading up to Kentucky, was able to grab 12 rebounds – tied for his second most this season.

Udeh finished with just two rebounds and four points, but he was able to give the team 12 important minutes off the bench to help guard Tshiebwe.

Sunflower Showdown rematch

The winning ways continued when the Jayhawks hosted their in-state rivals the Kansas State Wildcats on Tuesday night.

Just two weeks ago, the Jayhawks lost a back-and-forth battle with the Wildcats in a game that went to overtime and saw three KU players foul out of the game.

It was a game that KU easily could have won with chances both at the end of regulation and in overtime to seal the victory – but they didn’t.

This time around, the Jayhawks took control of the game early and never let it go.

KU got some much-needed production from their bench with players like Udeh, Zach Clemence, and Bobby Pettiford all stepping up to contribute.

McCullar continued to struggle shooting from the field but went 10 of 12 from the free throw line to give him 16 points on the night. Dajuan Harris also had one of his better offensive performances after chipping in 18 points.

It was a great team win that put the Jayhawks back in a tie for second in the Big 12 title race. They currently sit at 6-3 in conference play along with K-State, TCU, and Iowa State – who the Jayhawks face on Saturday morning.

This is as tough as the conference has been in a long time and KU will almost certainly slip up once or twice more before all is said and done.

But their aspirations of winning another Big 12 title, getting a No. 1 seed, and repeating as national champions are all still very much in play following the much-needed defeats of two disliked Wildcat opponents.