5 Things Necessary For Kansas Jayhawks To Win The Big 12

Kansas Jayhawks guard Naadir Tharpe (10)

2- VALUE EACH POSSESSION: The Jayhawks are averaging 13.8 turnovers a game, including 24 against Florida, and 18 against Toledo. If they give away that many turnovers in conference play, they will lose. The other teams in the Big 12 are too good not to take advantage of that many freebies.

While most of the attention falls on the guards because they handle the ball so much but seven Jayhawks have at least 13 turnovers on the season.

Opponents have turned the ball over 32 fewer times than Kansas (165-133), and the Jayhawks just cannot afford that discrepancy to continue, and expect to win the conference again. They have to understand the importance of each and every possession.

Kansas committed 24 turnovers against Florida and lost by 6 points. If they turn the ball over just at their season average, which is too high anyway, there is a good chance the Jayhawks could have scored points in those 10 possessions they had back, and the Gators would not have had the chance to score on their extra possessions.

It just isn’t turning the ball over either. Taking bad shots and missing free throws are also ways of not valuing possession. For each terrible shot they take and miss, and every misfired free throw, those are points not put on the board, and any missed opportunities can cost this team against the quality of competition they will be facing.