Kansas Jayhawks Basketball: Big 12 Stretch Run Is Not An Easy One

The Kansas Jayhawks basketball team has found itself in one heck of a dogfight for the Big 12 Conference regular season championship. Really, with how the conference stacked up this year, without a clear cut stand-out team, this should have come as no surprise.

The Kansas Jayhawks hold a slim one-game lead over three teams with three games remaining on the schedule. Kansas sits at 11-4, with Oklahoma, Iowa State, and West Virginia all nipping at the Jayhawks’ tail at 10-5.

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The Big 12 teams have pretty much beat up on one another, with nine of the ten teams able to compete with, and beat, anyone on a given night. Even the lone exception, Texas Tech, has stepped up and beat Iowa State and Kansas State.

The teams in this league are amazingly even this season. The conference hasn’t had anyone break into the top five nationally this year, but the overall competitiveness of almost all the teams is what has the Big 12 as the number one overall conference in RPI, according to Team Rankings.com.

The Jayhawks may have a one-game lead, but their stretch run will not be an easy one. They play two of the three teams that are pressing them hard from behind. They clash with West Virginia on Tuesday, who just beat the Jayhawks in Morgantown, and Kansas finishes off the season visiting Oklahoma.

Not to discount the Texas Longhorns, of course. The Jayhawks host the Longhorns Saturday night as part of ESPN’s College Gameday. Texas is probably disappointed with their 6-9 Big 12 season. They are currently 7th in the conference, and more than likely, firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

A win over the Jayhawks, in Allen Fieldhouse, might just be enough to propel Texas off the bubble, and into the field. They will have plenty to play for.

The Jayhawks are 14-0 at home this season, and 7-0 in league play. They get Texas and West Virginia at home, so if they don’t stumble on their home floor, it could very well come down to that final game at Oklahoma.

The Kansas Jayhawks basketball team is just 4-4 on the road in league play, and 5-5 in true road games this season, according to the Big 12 website. Those numbers reflect their inconsistencies when playing on the road, and quite frankly, should make fans very nervous about that final game of the season.

Of course, the Jayhawks must take of business at home first, or the Oklahoma game probably won’t matter. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi still has Kansas listed as a two seed for the NCAA tournament, but they can’t afford another loss if they hope to maintain that position.

Kansas must find some help on the offensive end to compliment Perry Ellis. The junior forward is averaging 14.0 points a game for the season, but 16.5 over his last 12 outings, according to ESPN’s stat page.

The problem is that no one has stepped up on a regular basis to be a strong second or third scoring option to help out Ellis.

Wayne Selden, Frank Mason, Brannen Greene, even Devonte’ Graham have had good games, but the Jayhawks haven’t been able to provide consistent scorers to take the defenses’ focus away from Ellis.

If this Kansas Jayhawks basketball team is going to make it very deep into post season play, in either the Big 12 Tourney, or the NCAA Tournament, someone else needs to step forward. Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander both have showed signs of improvement, but consistency has eluded them, like everyone else.

layers have to step up every game for the Jayhawks to have post season success, let alone finishing off the regular season with three wins and an 11th straight conference title.

The Big 12 still is not decided. A one-game advantage for Kansas, considering their tough stretch slate of match-ups, is not a comfortable lead at this point in the season. The Kansas Jayhawks need to start playing their best ball of the season right now.

Next: Lunardi Still Has KU As A 2 Seed

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