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KU just lost a road game in conference. Not a big deal, right? Every Big 12 team is gonna lose road games, right?
Fact: Oklahoma State is not good.
They were 9-8 coming into this game with losses to the likes of George Mason (7-11, 1-4), Tulsa (11-6, 3-2), and Missouri State (7-11, 3-3). They trailed by double digits at halftime dating back to January 2 to Texas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Baylor. Their arena was maybe half full tonight.
And yet they absolutely punked Kansas, supposedly a top-5 team, by 19 points.
Top-5 teams shouldn't lose like that to teams in the bottom third of their league. Yes, I know upsets happen. But this Kansas team sandwiched sleepwalking wins against Texas Tech and TCU with a loss to (an admittedly very good) West Virginia - a loss in which the "effort" by Kansas was questioned by many.
When people talk about the Big 12 being good, they aren't thinking about Oklahoma State, especially an Oklahoma State team missing its best player (Phil Forte).
The Jayhawks didn't turn the ball over much for once (8 TOs). But they shot horribly: 6/22 from 3 and 13/25 FTs. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State shot over 50% from the floor, including 11/21 from 3.
Something is off at 1651 Naismith Drive, and if Bill Self doesn't figure out how to fix it soon, we're in for a disappointing end to this basketball season.