Bill Self expects yet another close game on Saturday against Texas

Kansas coach Bill Self says it probably would be unwise to predict a blowout victory for No. 2-ranked Kansas in Saturday’s basketball battle against Texas at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I’ve just resigned myself to the fact every game is going to be a ‘last two minutes’ game,” Self said. “Certainly they have been at our place and on the road as well. It’s going to be one of those years you need to win in the last two minutes,” Self added.

The Jayhawks (17-1, 6-0 Big 12), who enter the game as 17-point favorites, have defeated Kansas State by two points, Iowa State by four, TCU by six and Oklahoma State by seven. KU trailed by nine at halftime of an 11-point victory over Oklahoma. And the Jayhawks led Texas Tech by five with eight minutes left in what turned out to be a 17-point victory.

Meanwhile, Texas (7-11, 1-5) is 2-6 in games decided by five points or less. In Big 12 play, Texas has lost to West Virginia by two, TCU and Kansas State by three, Iowa State by nine and Baylor by 10. The Longhorns beat Oklahoma State by three. Texas’ last eight losses have been by a combined total of 38 points for an average margin of defeat of 4.8 points per game.

All these close games have come in a conference in which 23 of the first 30 games have been decided by 10 points or less. Ten of 30 Big 12 games have been decided by four points or less or overtime. Only two of 30 have been decided by 20 points or more.

“They’ve been in just about every game with a chance to win only to have something not go right late,” Self said of Texas. “They are much better than what their record is.

“A one-possession game against West Virginia, and they’ve had, obviously, a one-possession game against TCU and a one-possession game at K-State. So there’s three games that in the last 30 seconds if it’s different, they’re 4-2 instead of 1-5.”

The Longhorns’ starting lineup includes two freshmen (forward Jarrett Allen and guard Jacob Young), two sophomores (guards Kerwin Roach and Eric Davis) and a senior (Shaquille Cleare). The team’s leading scorer, Tevin Mack, has missed the past two games while on indefinite suspension.

Allen, a 6-11, 235-pound McDonald’s All-American who averages 11.9 points and 7.8 rebounds a game overall, has averaged 14.5 points (60.7 percent shooting) and 9.7 boards in six Big 12 games.

“I like their personnel,” Self said. “We tried to recruit some of their young players (Allen, Davis. Andrew Jones) and came up empty. Certainly after watching them play and their talent level, we certainly did miss out. I think they all are going to be good players. They are probably the biggest team we’ve played at least that I can remember in quite some time,” Self added.

Texas coach Shaka Smart realizes the KU game will be a battle.

“I think one of the things that is impressive about Kansas is they are playing a lot differently than they did last year just in terms of personnel for the most part, having four perimeter guys on the floor almost all the time,” Smart said. “I think the combination of having (Frank) Mason and (Devonté) Graham as playmakers and then Josh Jackson as a playmaker from that 4-spot makes them very challenging to guard. We’ll have to do a good job rebounding as a team,” Smart added

This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 5:30 PM with the headline "Bill Self expects yet another close game on Saturday against Texas."