Fans hoped that the Kansas basketball team’s fortunes would be improved after its first loss of the season earlier this week against Creighton. It was KU’s first true road test of the campaign, while Rylan Griffen was injured and ruled out. You could have chalked it up to a squad still figuring itself out in a challenging environment away from home.
However, the Jayhawks’ woes continued Sunday afternoon in a concerningly poor effort in Columbia. Bill Self and Co. took on longtime rival Missouri in the Border Showdown, but nothing went right from the get-go. Despite a late comeback attempt, the Tigers prevailed in the end, winning 76-67 and handing the nation’s top-ranked schools its second unranked loss in a row.
Kansas basketball underwhelms again in ugly defeat to Mizzou
An uninspiring offensive performance that saw Dajuan Harris take 21 shots against the Bluejays suggested things needed to be changed heading into the matchup. Instead, the offense looked even worse today as the Jayhawks turned it over an astounding 15 times in the first half. Mizzou led 39-25 after an unsightly first 20 minutes.
The Tigers didn’t look sharp in the latter stages of the second half, nearly squandering a 24-point lead. But even after giving Kansas multiple chances to get back into the game, turnovers and ill-advised shot attempts killed any chances KU had at winning the contest.
Hunter Dickinson was more involved in the offense, scoring a team-high 19 points with 14 rebounds. However, poor shooting performances from Dajuan Harris (5-for-14), AJ Storr (1-for-7), and Zeke Mayo (2-for-6) made the guard play unwatchable. Mizzou guard Tamar Bates excelled with a game-high 29 points.
Sitting at 7-2 with a pair of losses to inferior opponents, it has been anything but what fans hoped for following the strong start. Kansas became the fifth AP No. 1 team in NCAA history to lose back-to-back games to unranked opponents.
Although the season is still young, it’s clear that something must be tweaked in the coming weeks if the Jayhawks want to avoid a similar outcome to last year. KU must recollect itself during its long break before it plays NC State next weekend at home.