KU Jayhawks, who have been winning close games, expect more nail-biters in Big 12
Defending Big 12 regular-season and NCAA champion Kansas remains the only men’s basketball team in the conference with an unblemished record (through five games).
Nobody’s saying it’s been utter domination for KU in the 10-team league. Four of the five Big 12 games involving the No. 2-ranked Jayhawks (16-1, 5-0) have been decided by four points or less.
KU trimmed No. 14 Iowa State (13-3, 4-1) 62-60 on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks also have won at home over Oklahoma State by two points and Oklahoma by four points and on the road over Texas Tech by three points.
KU has had one blowout, a 14-point victory at West Virginia.
If one goes back to the 2021-22 season … KU’s last two regular-season league games included a four-point victory over TCU and overtime win over Texas, both in Allen Fieldhouse.
That means six of KU’s last seven regular-season Big 12 contests have been decided by four points or less.
Also, this year, the Jayhawks have defeated Wisconsin by one in overtime, Duke by five points and North Carolina State and Southern Utah by six.
KU coach Bill Self addressed the topic of KU’s close games after Saturday’s narrow win over the Cyclones.
“I mean when you play other teams that are good and well-coached and tough and confident and everything, that’s how games go,” Self said. “The one thing you saw today … you saw two teams enjoy playing in a tight game like that in an atmosphere like this (loud crowd of 16,300). They (Cyclones) didn’t take a step back at all. Our crowd was unbelievable but our crowd did not rattle Iowa State.”
Self actually expects most games to be close, especially this conference season. Some have said all 10 teams in the league will earn bids to the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
“It was a fun game,” Self said of the win over Iowa State, KU’s 10th consecutive victory overall. The Jayhawks have won 16 games in a row in Allen Fieldhouse, where KU is 302-16 in the 20-year Self era.
“We talked about it before the game: This was going to be one of those (ultra competitive) games. We weren’t going to beat them bad,” Self continued. “I know T.J. (second-year ISU coach Otzelberger) and the mindset they’d have coming in here.”
Self stressed Iowa State would be “playing with house money” because they’d feel no pressure trying to spoil the Jayhawks’ 125 Years of KU Basketball celebration and also would want to defeat the country’s No. 2 team on the road and would want revenge after falling to KU 62-61 last year in Lawrence.
“That was the talk coming in, so he had a confident team today,” Self noted of Otzelberger.
Self, who was speaking to media Saturday just an hour before walking over to the Burge Union for a banquet with 200 former KU players, coaches and managers, stressed that the victories over OU and Iowa State made it a “great week.”
“I would welcome anything that’s a win in this league. I don’t mean to say this in a way that comes off wrong but people will get fired up to play against Kansas because of (KU being great over) time. Then you add a national championship (2022) to it, it’s a big game for folks. It’s a big game for us, too. Sometimes we look at it (as) we should be doing this better. It’s true in some cases. We’re getting good efforts from opponents. To win those games I think is a mark of a pretty decent team,” Self said,
Self was asked if he thinks being involved in so many close games pays off in the NCAA Tournament.
“I don’t know that this many close games helps you in the postseason,” he said, emphasizing the word “this.”
“If you advance (in NCAAs) you will be in duress some, like we were in multiple games (last postseason).”
KU defeated North Carolina by three points in the NCAA title game. During the six-game NCAAs, KU also edged Creighton by seven points and Providence by five. KU trailed Miami by six points at halftime of what turned into a 26-point KU victory in the Elite Eight.
KU will next meet Kansas State at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Manhattan. KU is 5-0 in the league; K-State, Iowa State and Texas are 4-1. TCU is 3-2 followed by Baylor and Oklahoma (2-3), Oklahoma State (1-4), and West Virginia and Texas Tech (0-5).
“I don’t think we go in any game thinking, ‘This is going to be easy,’’’ Self said “Iowa State today, K-State is ranked 11th, TCU (Jan. 21), Baylor (Jan. 23) and Kentucky (Jan. 28) and don’t we have K-State (Jan. 31) and Iowa State (Feb. 4) right after that? That’s a joke.
“There’s not going to be any of those (blowouts).”
This story was originally published January 15, 2023 at 10:02 AM with the headline "KU Jayhawks, who have been winning close games, expect more nail-biters in Big 12."
