WACO, Texas — Kansas is almost certain to drop out of the top 10 in The Associated Press poll for the first time in three seasons after losing consecutive games for the first time this year. The Jayhawks also can't win the Big 12 regular season title.
Still, this is just the beginning of March, and coach Bill Self didn't sound as downbeat as some might have expected after the Jayhawks' 82-74 loss Saturday to 15th-ranked Baylor.
“I actually thought we did some good things,” Self said. “The thing about people in general is we're all guilty of this, whether it's right or wrong, you know, we just focus on the end result instead of the actions and everything that goes into putting ourselves in a position to be successful with the final result.”
The Jayhawks (21-8, 9-7 Big 12), with seven conference losses for the first time since 1988-89, were truly defeated by only one bad stretch midway through the second half when they played the only other team important of the conference with six. consecutive 20-win seasons. Kansas and Baylor (21-8, 10-6) are also two of four teams to have won at least one game in each of the last four NCAA tournaments.
Big 12 scoring leader Kevin McCullar Jr. scored 20 points in his return to the lineup after missing four of the previous five games with a bone bruise in his knee. Hunter Dickinson also scored 20 points and the Jayhawks shot 55% (32 of 58), a mark bolstered by 46 points in the paint.
McCullar said Self's message after the game was simple.
“We're already in March, he told us, there will come a time when you just win or go home,” McCullar said. “I have to learn from it, I definitely have to turn the page and prepare for the next two.” [games]. Try to handle business and then get ready for the Big 12 tournament and go from there.”
The Jayhawks play their home finale against Kansas State on Tuesday night, a week after Big 12 newcomer BYU won 76-68 at Allen Fieldhouse, its only home loss this season. They then finish the regular season in top-ranked Houston. Kansas can extend its record winning streak in conference games to 35 straight seasons by winning one of those games.
Kansas has been a top-10 team for 55 consecutive polls since the start of the 2021-22 season, which ended with the Jayhawks as national champions. The second-longest active streak is Houston's 35 straight.
Baylor used a 13-2 run over nearly four minutes to extend a one-point lead to 12 midway through the second half.
“I actually thought it was a pretty well-played game,” Self said. “I didn't think our defense in the second half was as good as it was in the first half. But I'm leaving here, not encouraged, but less discouraged than I probably did in some of our other losses.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
