The Kansas trip to Norman was expected to provide a fairly easy victory and the Jayhawks didn’t disappoint. From the start Kansas once again looked like one of the best offensive teams in the country shooting 72% in the first half while taking a 12 point lead over the home team.
While that hot shooting would inevitably level off, Kansas kept their lead in double digits for nearly the entire game and were never truly threatened.
The interesting thing about a game like this is that it does mask a little bit of what Bill Self is worried about with this team come March. When you have a group running away from teams because of their offensive efficiency, it tends to go unnoticed if that same group is showing deficiencies on the defensive end.
While Kansas had little trouble with Oklahoma, there were defensive lapses at times in this one and a better opponent might have made Kansas pay on a more consistent basis. As it stood Oklahoma kept it from being a complete blowout but they were never able to close within striking distance. Perhaps it’s hyper critical, but defensive focus and intensity is one area that Self has been stressing all season long.
Nitpicking aside, it was another very good performance for Kansas. Kansas wins by a final score of 82 to 70. The Jayhawks were led by Marcus Morris who scored 23 points while grabbing 9 rebounds. Markieff Morris also had a big game adding 19 points and 10 boards for the Jayhawks.
All this of course is set to the backdrop of some other notable news. That news being the loss by the Texas Longhorns. The Jayhawks now sit tied atop the Big 12 standings with two games to play. What that means is Kansas is in full control of their own destiny in winning a seventh consecutive league championship. Texas A&M and Missouri will try to derail that mission.