Kansas Defeats Oklahoma To Win Share of 10th Straight Big 12 Title

It seems as though everyone has already thought about and written about the streak's place in history, so I'll stick to analyzing the game, which I think is more my speed anyways.

Though it was rocky for most of it, and for some reason Kansas seemed uninterested, they put together a couple key runs when they needed to that allowed them to come away with the win. Although the game featured quite a few missed shots early, both teams ended up doing what we thought they would do, scoring over a point per possession. Kansas remains atop the Big 12 in offense and defense, and they have gotten better in some other key areas as well. This was the second straight game of low turnover rates, and the Jayhawks have climbed to 7th in the league in turnovers. They've also climbed to 5th in the league in forcing turnovers. Neither number is great, obviously, but if teams can't slaughter Kansas in the turnover battle, it's going to be very tough indeed to beat them.

Oklahoma showed once again that they are the masters of the two point jumper, and it helped them en route to shooting 44.6% from two. The number could have been a lot higher but for some great rim protection from Embiid. In actuality, the teams played fairly similarly. Kansas shot 45% from two and 44% from three, while Oklahoma shot 44.6% from two and 43% from three. The big difference was Kansas's ability to use its size: they got to the line 10 more times than Oklahoma, and they rebounded 35.5% of their misses compared to just 27% for the Sooners.

There aren't really a ton of overall lessons to take from this one, I don't think. One could say that Kansas knew they were staring down the barrel of 10 straight and played tight, but I don't think they were tight at all. Maybe they got a little overconfident due to their win at Texas. Regardless, Oklahoma is a pretty good team (2nd in the Big 12 in efficiency margin coming into the game) and played like it. Kansas is a great team, and though they didn't play like it, they still had enough to win.

Wayne Selden: 7. Selden gets a boost from me for making 3 of his 5 threes, but the rest of his night was pretty bare. He got to the line a couple times, but I think his defense regressed a bit.

Andrew Wiggins: 6. Wiggins was aggressive again in this one, but went just 4-11 from two and 1-3 from three. He made a couple key baskets late, though.

Joel Embiid: 8. Embiid turned it over 4 times against the double team, but that was pretty much the end of the negatives. He was 3-5 from two, 6-8 from the line, had 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, and 4 steals.

Naadir Tharpe: 8.5. Tharpe gets the nod over Embiid as the player of the game for his work late. He made 5 of his 6 twos, all 6 of his free throws, and his lone three. He only turned it over once next to 5 assists, and he played as good of defense as you'd expect against Oklahoma's penetrating guards.

Perry Ellis: 5.5. Another rough one for Ellis, going just 2-7 from two. He did make a three, and he gets a little boost due to the fact that he defended on the perimeter well. He probably should have scored more, but a guy his size who can guard on the perimeter is a nice weapon to have.

Frank Mason: 4. Mason struggled, but hit a big three late in the corner

Jamari Traylor: 5. Traylor hit a free throw line jumper and had a nice mini up and under move. He also grabbed four rebounds, but turned it over twice in 13 minutes.

Tarik Black: 6.5. Black grabbed 5 rebounds in 12 minutes, and added a three point play.