Kansas shows signs of jelling while Cowboys flounders

Deficiencies Kansas usually faces are first-world problems for a college basketball program.

Typically, the Jayhawks are ranked in the top 10 and leading the Big 12. This year is no different as No. 7 Kansas (18-4, 7-2 Big 12) carries a one-game lead in the standings entering a home game Saturday against Oklahoma State (13-9, 3-6).

“We've got to rebound better. Our first-shot defense needs to get better, even though it hasn't been awful, but it hasn't been great,” Kansas coach Bill Self said when addressing deficiencies, he sees in his team.

Moreover, the Jayhawks have not been quite so intimidating at home, dropping games against Arizona State and Texas Tech in Allen Fieldhouse, where their victory margins have been unusually tight, particularly in league matchups winning by one, three and five points.

“I'd like to see us generate and play with a little bit more energy at home,” Self added. “Seems like our energy level, maybe because we have a tighter huddle, maybe because we have a mindset it's us against everyone, has been better away from home. That certainly has to improve.”

Kansas is coming off its most lopsided Big 12 win, a 70-56 road romp over Kansas State. Two Jayhawks, senior guard Devonte' Graham and sophomore guard Malik Newman, recorded double-doubles. Graham did so distributing the ball for 11 assists, while Newman snagged a career-high 10 rebounds.

Senior guard Svi Mykhailiuk managed his sixth 20-point performance in league play.

More appealing to Self and his staff, and even the Jayhawks interviewed after the win, was the 41-31 advantage Kansas forged on the glass. It was the first time the Jayhawks outrebounded a Big 12 rival this season.

“I think (Newman) went through a phase where he was stale and where he was worried about scoring as opposed to just worrying about playing,” Self said of the 6-foot-3 Mississippi State transfer. “Now we're talking about how he played and he took seven shots. So he's definitely getting better.”

Oklahoma State has dropped three straight and seven of its last 10 under first-year coach Mike Boynton. Senior guard Jeffrey Carroll leads the Cowboys with a 15.8-point average and also ranks as their second-best rebounder with a 6.2 average.

Although the Cowboys made a season-high 57.1 percent of their 3-point attempts (8 of 14) in their last outing, they trailed by as many as 16 and fell 79-66 against TCU, ending a string of 15 straight home wins against unranked opponents.

The loss came after forward Cam McGriff asserted himself before tipoff about what he labeled “the elephant in the room,” which was the lack of energy in his Oklahoma State teammates.

Boynton senses his team can bounce back.

“If you come out of (the TCU defeat) and can't do some soul-searching to figure out what you can do individually to make yourself better and to help our team,” said Boynton, “then you've got some problems. But we've got the right kind of kids in our locker room and I'm confident that they can do that.”

Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996-97, the Cowboys' only win at Kansas came in 2013 with Marcus Smart in the backcourt.

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