Monday night will provide yet another hurdle in the long season of Big 12 basketball that the Kansas Jayhawks have to play, as Kansas will be forced to travel to Lubbock, Texas, to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who currently sit with a 16-5 record, including a 6-2 conference mark.
Yet so far this season, the Jayhawks have steadily improved at facing these types of hurdles. After an 11-5 start pushed them out of the AP Top 25 for the second time this season, Bill Self’s squad has taken a deep breath and has gone on to play some of its best basketball yet. This has led them up to the No. 14 spot ahead of the latest rankings, which were only bound to improve after their 90-82 win over the No. 13 BYU Cougars last weekend.
Kansas reaches new season high in the charts
Minutes ago, the AP Poll moved the Jayhawks to No. 11, setting a season-high for the team. Kansas is one of five teams from the Big 12 who were selected with Arizona (1), Iowa State (7), Houston (8), Texas Tech (13), and BYU (16), all also being nominated.
Toughest test yet
Monday could mark the toughest road test up to this point so far for the Jayhawks as Kansas must face the Red Raiders in what will be a primetime showing ESPN showing.
ESPN’s analytics give Self’s team a 45.1% chance of winning the encounter as Texas Tech is undefeated at home, already taking wins off of BYU and Houston thus far.
The biggest questions facing KU’s health are whether guard Elmarko Jackson will be fit to play, along with the health of Darryn Peterson. Peterson dazzled in the first half of Kansas’ latest win over BYU but missed out on nearly the entire second period thanks to a recurring cramping issue.
The first Big 12 injury report states that Jackson was questionable and that Peterson is set to play
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT.
Make sure to bookmark Through the Phog and follow us on X and Facebook with the username @Throughthephog