Jayhawks travel to meet a struggling Sooners team

Two teams headed in different directions meet Tuesday night in Norman, Okla.

Kansas moved up to No. 2 in Monday’s college basketball polls. Oklahoma has dropped six straight games and will meet KU without leading scorer Jordan Woodard (17.6 points), who’ll miss his fifth straight game without an undisclosed injury, OU coach Lon Kruger said.

“They are playing without their best player, or have been,” KU coach Bill Self said. “I think they are really young and talented. They’ve got multiple guys who can shoot it. Lon does a good job of playing to what he feels is a mismatch. They’ll try to pick on certain guys with their best offensive players. I think it will be important we are able to guard the ball.”

OU (6-8, 0-3 Big 12) will likely start a freshman, two sophomores and two juniors against KU (14-1, 3-0).

Freshman guard Kameron McGusty came off the bench to score a career-high 20 points in Saturday’s 75-64 loss at Kansas State. Sophomore guard Christian James is the squad’s leading scorer of the players available for Tuesday’s game at 10.9 points.

“We need to go with the same mindset as last year,” Self said of a 76-72 win at OU. “To win league, you’ve got to win at home and win games you have a chance to win on the road. We went to TCU and got it done (86-80 on Dec. 30). This would be a great win as far as the league race goes, to go to Norman and get it done. They have players that are dangerous.”

One Jayhawk who enters the game on an uptick is senior forward Landen Lucas, who is tied for the league lead in rebounding with Baylor’s Johnathan Motley — 11.7 in three conference games. In all games, Lucas ranks eighth in the league in boards at 6.9.

“Landen has been incredible,” teammate Svi Mykhailiuk said. “He’s rebounded the ball well. He’s really helping us on the defensive end. We need him to play that way.”

Lucas has had double-digit rebounds in three of KU’s last four games.

“Landen will be the first to tell you if you go on the road and your mindset is not to be tough and get stops, you will be fortunate to get a W,” Self said.

The 6-foot-10 Lucas had eight points and six rebounds against Texas Tech, describing Tech as a tough team to rebound against.

“They were a great rebounding team as far as blocking out,” he said. “They pretty much turned and used their arms, did whatever they could to keep me from getting to the offensive glass.

“Defensive rebounds … I had a couple fall to me. A ton weren’t coming my way. You have those nights. I was not happy with my numbers, but as long as my team wins and we do what we need to do on the court, I’m pleased.”

This story was originally published January 9, 2017 at 7:39 PM with the headline "Jayhawks travel to meet a struggling Sooners team."