Kansas Basketball finished its regular season making history. For the first time in Bill Self’s tenure the Jayhawks were swept by a Big 12 opponent.
The Jayhawks already had the conference title wrapped up. Oklahoma State was fighting for a tournament bid. On senior night. The writing was on the wall as to how this game might go for Kansas Basketball. The first half was an ugly performance by Kansas, and Oklahoma State took advantage of almost every mistake.
Bill Self had never been swept by a Big 12 opponent. Leave it to his alma mater to accomplish the feat. Oklahoma State had nine steals in the first half, Kansas had 11 turnovers. That was the story of the first half.
First half
The Jayhawks looked as though they were trying to find new ways to turn the ball over. Stepping on the baseline, fighting amongst each other on a rebound, ridiculous passes and walking with ball. Oklahoma State answered by keeping their turnovers down, their rebounds up and shooting crisp.
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The Jayhawks couldn’t get off the court fast enough at halftime, down by 16. Not one Jayhawk was able to score in double digits. At this point of the game, Jayhawks fans were hoping to just get back into the game in preparation for the conference tournament. This has been a season for many negative firsts for Bill Self.
Second half
The second half looked to be as ugly as the first for the Jayhawks at first. Slowly, the Jayhawks started to chip away at the Cowboys lead. With just over twelve minutes remaining they had cut the lead to nine.
The Cowboys played tremendous defense for the next three minutes. Kansas couldn’t find anything better than difficult shots and weren’t able to make those, looking desperate and incoherent.
Devonte’ Graham was the only player for Kansas that the ball seemed safe with. Even then there was not much pretty basketball being played from the guys in blue.
Rushed shots and careless ball handling continued as each minute ticked away. Kansas didn’t have the want or the ability to overcome what the Cowboys were doing. Oklahoma State eventually got the lead back to 17 points.
The best play of the night was Bill Self’s technical with 5:56 left. It didn’t help.
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Although the Jayhawks managed to keep fans tuned in for just a bit in the second half, Kansas didn’t do anything to make folks feel like this team could do much in postseason play. That’s a knee jerk reaction. The Jayhawks had nothing to lose.
The home-and-home series streak stopped at 102, as Mike Boynton finds himself undefeated against Kansas. The Jayhawks never led in this contest.