Kansas basketball enters the toughest stretch of its Big 12 slate as the calendar flips to February, with major implications and some of the nation’s toughest teams still on the schedule.
The next four games include three matchups against teams ranked in the AP Top 15 or higher. It’s a brutal run, no doubt, and one that will either make or break Kansas’ postseason outlook.
Jayhawks to tackle No. 13 BYU, AJ Dybansta inside Allen Fieldhouse
Head coach Bill Self and the Jayhawks get a much-awaited rematch against No. 13 BYU on Saturday, facing their third top-15 opponent of the season; once again inside Allen Fieldhouse.
It’s the kind of matchup the diehard fans dream of: two projected lottery talents on the floor, one for either team and two programs slated for deep tournament runs.
BYU’s AJ Dybansta leads the Cougars across multiple categories, averaging double figures entering Saturday’s matchup while shooting 53% from the field and 31% from beyond the arc. Darryn Peterson averages similar numbers for the Jayhawks, but has been day-to-day due in part to an injury so far this season.
But Dybansta isn’t the only shooter in the Cougars starting lineup averaging those numbers. Richie Saunders and Rob Wright III both average double figures while logging more than 30 minutes per game, with Saunders fresh out of an 18-point performance against Arizona.
According to Self, Dybansta is unlike anything Kansas has seen so far this season and could pose a major challenge for the Jayhawks’ defense.
“[Dybansta] is ridiculously talented,” Self said. “He can take two strides to everybody else’s three. I don’t know… that you would look at [Dybansta] from an athleticism standpoint, and say that he doesn’t fit a mold that you would look at as some of the greatest NBA athletes out there.”
Matchups against Texas Tech, top-ranked Arizona hang in the balance
Things don’t get any easier down the stretch. Following the Cougars, Kansas is on the road facing Texas Tech, much of the same team coached by Grant McCasland that won inside Allen Fieldhouse a season ago.
The Red Raiders are led by JT Toppin in his second season, fresh off tying his second-best scoring performance after dropping 31 points in a 90-86 win over Houston. Texas Tech remains unbeaten at home and has suffered just one conference loss, a four-point true road defeat to Houston.
It’s a game that could have the potential to either make or break the conference slate.
“You want to win the next one, but you can’t put so much emphasis on, ‘you have to do this, or you have to do that,’” Self said. “The reality of it is, when you play good competition, it doesn’t always go as you script it or hope it to go.”
Self noted his team isn’t alone in facing this strength of schedule.
“I think, more than any this year, everybody’s going to go through a hard phase of their schedule,” he said. “There’s no doubt about that, but this is certainly the toughest phase of ours.”
Home stand against Arizona poses opportunity
The Jayhawks will have a chance to make history next Monday when Arizona comes to Lawrence. Kansas could record its first win as an underdog against a top-ranked team in the AP Poll since 2003.
The program’s most recent win over a top-five opponent came earlier this season against No. 2 Iowa State, but the last top-ranked team to fall inside the Phog – Arizona.
So grab your popcorn - history has a funny way of repeating itself in Lawrence.