The Kansas basketball team is on a four-game winning streak and is playing its best ball of the season. Consecutive wins against Iowa State and Baylor at home, followed by road victories at Colorado and Kansas State, have the Jayhawks sitting at 5-2 in the Big 12 and 15-5 overall.
Two weeks ago, the Jayhawks had fallen from the top 25 for the second time this season, but the four wins have vaulted KU to number 14 in this week's AP poll, their highest ranking of the season.
The Jayhawks are playing now like everyone hoped they would from the beginning of the season. Things didn't go well for KU early in the season as superstar freshman guard Darryn Peterson missed eight non-conference games, and the Kansas schedule was brutal.
Even with Peterson back at the start of Big 12 play, the Jayhawks struggled, losing on the road at UCF and West Virginia and needing a spectacular late comeback to beat TCU in overtime at home.
The Kansas basketball team has been terrific over the last four Big 12 games
It took KU some time to first learn to play with Peterson, then to play without him, then to adjust to playing with him again. That is a lot to ask of any group of players. Still, the team seems to be learning as it goes and constantly improving.
Many ups and downs led to this four-game stretch. A brief look at a point differential breakdown illustrates how well KU is playing now. During the first 16 games of the season, minus blowout wins against teams the Jayhawks should handle easily, the Jayhawks outscored their opponents by just 21 points.
Kansas was just 7-5 in those 12 games. In the four games against Green Bay, Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, Towson, and Davidson, KU outscored these opponents by 127, and the Jayhawks were 4-0 in those games, as expected.
To sum up those games, KU easily won the four games they should have easily won. In games against tougher competition, they struggled at times but still unimpressively managed to come out slightly ahead.
In the last four Big 12 games, Kansas is a healthy +67 in points differential. Against the conference opponents, that is a fantastic number. It indicates that the team is playing better together.
The positive part is that three of those games included Peterson in the lineup, and the last one, at Kansas State, where KU won by 24, the Jayhawks won without their star. The rest of the team is learning how to play with and without Peterson.
Against K-State, only five players scored, but all five scored at least 13 points. Flory Bidunga led the team with 21, followed by Elmarko Jackson off the bench with 19, then Melvin Council Jr. with 17, Bryson Tiller with 16, and Tre White with 13. Jamari McDowell and Jayden Dawson played, but neither scored. Still, that is well-balanced scoring.
The best part is that in recent games, KU has done the same things, only with Peterson as one of the top scorers. This trend gives hope for the rest of the season.
Kansas' basketball schedule is about to get even tougher
The KU schedule is about to get tougher. Next up is 13th-ranked BYU, then 11th-ranked Texas Tech. Kansas also has two games against number one Arizona, another versus No. 8 Iowa State, plus a clash with 10th-ranked Houston. That's six more games against teams currently ranked in the top 13 in the country. And that doesn't count the Big 12 tournament.
According to KenPom.com, Kansas has already played the third-hardest schedule. The rest of the conference slate will not hurt that ranking at all.
The Jayhawks' improved play will certainly be tested over the coming weeks. There is little chance they will win all of those games and will most certainly throw in a bad game or two. That is the nature of conference play.
Make sure to bookmark Through the Phog and follow us on X and Facebook with the username @Throughthephog