Kansas Basketball: Conference play will test the Jayhawks

The Big 12 Conference will not be easy this season for Kansas basketball.

The Big 12 is typically a very competitive basketball conference, but this season it is even more competitive than usual. Bill Self and the No. 5 ranked Kansas Jayhawks will tip off their conference schedule on Thursday evening in Lubbock for a clash against the No. 14 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders. Just as Thursday’s matchup won’t be easy, the rest of the schedule won’t be a walk in the park either.

Of the ranked teams, the Big 12 is represented by five of the top 14 teams, including KU. Kansas’ schedule is filled with nine of their 19 remaining games against opponents currently ranked in the top 14, including an exciting SEC/Big 12 challenge when the Jayhawks visit the Tennessee Volunteers at the end of January.

No matter which team they are playing, a game against Kansas basketball will be near the top, if not at the top, of every opponent’s calendar.

KU’s opening seven games were a bit of a rollercoaster. They started the season tough with a close defeat to a strong Gonzaga team before winning six straight, including impressive wins over a really good Creighton team and a Kentucky team that currently sits 1-4. Perhaps Kansas’ most disappointing outing was their narrow victory over North Dakota State. While KU won, the Jayhawks did trail for much of that game against a team they could have easily beaten by double digits.

From their opening six games, KU has shown their ability to put up points, but they will need to do it on a more consistent basis for the remainder of the season. KU has done a good job of sharing the workload of point-scoring throughout the team with four players averaging double-digit points per game.

The most impressive contributions have been from redshirt freshman forward Jalen Wilson. Wilson, who missed last season with a broken ankle, now leads the Kansas Jayhawks with 15.3 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game. The Denton, Texas native is also making the most of his chances, shooting .507% from the field.

Kansas guard Christian Braun has really elevated his game since last season as well. The Blue Valley Northwest graduate has more than doubled his points per game tally from 5.3 in 2019-20 to 11.9 this season.

Of course, the most important thing that the Kansas Jayhawks can do for the rest of the season is to be smart and disciplined so that they give themselves the chance to carry out the season with the least amount of adversity as possible in the era controlled by COVID-19.

While KU isn’t the biggest team around, recent basketball history has proven that there are ways to get around that. If KU can ‘weather the storm’ in the paint, then KU lives with a great shot of winning yet another Big 12 title. That will be put to test this season for Kansas basketball.