The Kansas Jayhawks jumped out early on the road against the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday and were never truly threatened. For Kansas it was another game led by an impressive offensive performance and for Kansas it continues to boil down to great ball movement resulting in high percentage attempts.
Truthfully it's hard to imagine Kansas shooting much better than they did in the first half as the Jayhawks converted on 18 of 25 shots for an overall shooting percentage of 72% through the first 20 minutes of basketball. For a Sooner team that is young and lacks in the depth department, the hole would prove to deep to dig out of. Kansas led at the half by a 45-33 margin.
If their was one concern for Kansas it had to be the intensity and focus on the defensive end. Bill Self has talked about it all year and despite the fact that Kansas can be a juggernaut on the offensive end, Oklahoma was fairly effective during stretches offensively themselves. That subsided in the second half as Kansas did improve, but against a better team the Jayhawks might not get away with that.
Putting that aside, Kansas without question had another solid game and ultimately a fairly easy win. Self will continue to talk defense, fans will continue to find areas they would like to see more, but when your lead is in the double digits for the majority of a game on the road it's a pretty good win.
Final score in this one Kansas 82 Oklahoma 70. The Jayhawks were led by the Morris twins who combined for 42 points and 19 rebounds.
Two storylines for the Jayhawks in this one. First, the Hawks draw even with the Texas Longhorns who fell in Boulder and Kansas now controls their own destiny in the hunt for a seventh straight conference title. Second question; does Tyshawn return this week and are injuries to Elijah Johnson and Thomas Robinson minor as they appeared to be or is there something more?
Next up Texas A&M and senior night in the Phog. Two more games, two more tough ones and if Kansas can win out the streak will sit at SEVEN.