Coming off what was likely a week’s worth of intense practices, No. 10 Kansas returns home for a matchup with North Carolina State on Saturday afternoon in Lawrence, Kan.
The Jayhawks (7-2) lost back-to-back games versus unranked opponents, the first time in school history that they have done that while ranked No. 1. Now they have to regroup to face the Wolfpack (7-3).
Kansas lost its first two games of the season emphatically: 76-63 at Creighton on Dec. 4 and 76-67 at Missouri last Sunday.
Coach Bill Self, who has only lost three straight games four times in his 21-year career at Kansas, was pretty succinct about his team’s play following the loss to Missouri.
“I think it was probably a combination of them being good and us not being good,” he said. “I don’t know that I could give them 100 percent credit, but that’s what happens in sports. When the other team is doing things to hurt you, and you don’t attack it well, they guard you the same way.
“A lot of times you just roll it straight because of just not being as prepared or ready. I think it was a combination of both. I would err on the side of giving them more credit, because if I just say we sucked, that would take credit from them. We did suck, but it was in large part them.”
The Jayhawks still have a balanced and experienced attack, led by seniors Hunter Dickinson (15.0 points per game), Zeke Mayo (10.9), Dajuan Harris Jr. (10.7) and KJ Adams Jr. (9.8).
Their biggest problem against Missouri was the 22 turnovers.
“It’s been a crap week for all of us,” Self said on his weekly radio show Tuesday. “But hopefully we get an opportunity to bounce back.
“I’m not going to make any excuses. If you don’t perform the way we didn’t perform, there certainly can be some valuable things to learn from that hopefully will give us a chance to win the war and not just the battle.”
NC State has won back-to-back games, including the ACC opener against Florida State on Dec. 7. In their last game, the Wolfpack handled Coppin State 66-56 on Tuesday.
That’s not to say NC State coach Kevin Keatts was impressed.
“I thought we did a terrible job at the end of shot clocks when they were going to take a bunch of bad shots but we fouled them,” Keatts said. “That being said, you can learn a lot from a win instead of a loss.
“We compete hard every day, and our energy is always high. With this group, I’m trying to get everyone to be consistent.”
The Wolfpack has a trio of double-digit scorers, led by Marcus Hill (13.0 ppg). Jayden Taylor adds 12.5 and Dontrez Styles chips in 10.6. Ben Middlebrooks (9.2) and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (8.7) round out the top five. Huntley-Hatfield (5.6 rebounds per game) and Styles (4.6) also lead a balanced rebounding attack.
The Jayhawks have won 12 straight games in the series with North Carolina State.
–Field Level Media
