No. 23 Kansas took out its frustrations on Oklahoma State on Saturday, and now turns its focus toward a visit to Colorado on Monday at Boulder, Colo.
Kansas (18-9, 9-7 Big 12) had lost two straight before rolling past the Cowboys 96-64 in a victory that came right after it lost to BYU by 34 points. The Jayhawks’ ability to regroup ended a two-game skid.
“We needed some confidence boost, and we got it from a lot of people,” Jayhawks coach Bill Self said. “We should feel better about ourselves. We need to be more of a confident group going to Boulder and hopefully (Saturday) helped with that.”
They will try to make it two victories over Colorado (11-16, 2-14), which occupies the basement in the Big 12 but has a little momentum. The Buffaloes have won two of their last three games after dropping their first 13 in the conference and played Kansas tough in Lawrence on Feb. 11 before losing 71-59.
The earlier game was competitive throughout and gave some of the Colorado players confidence heading into Monday’s matchup.
“I had one of their players in the (handshake) line tell me, ‘We will see you in two weeks,'” Self said, adding he took the comment as confidence, not arrogance. “That’s how you want your players to be.”
Kansas got 19 points from leading scorer Hunter Dickinson in that game, and he is averaging 16.3 points this season, one of two players on the team scoring in double figures. Guard Zeke Mayo (14.7) is second and Dajuan Harris Jr. is third on the team at 9.7 per game.
Dickinson also leads the team in rebounding at 9.7 per game.
The Buffaloes will have to do a better job of containing Dickinson than they did in Lawrence. That job will likely fall to Bangot Dak and Elijah Malone, among others, while also containing the Jayhawks’ guards.
Colorado is coming off a 76-74 win over Baylor on Saturday, while overcoming a rough start. The Buffaloes also had a 76-63 victory over UCF on Feb. 15.
“It says maybe they’re learning. Maybe they can turn things around,” Colorado coach Tad Boyle said of his team’s second half surge. “That’s part of toughness. When I say toughness it’s not just hitting somebody or knocking them.
“Part of it is getting through screens and boxing out and things like that. But the other part of toughness is the mental part. And that is, ‘Hey, I’m not playing well in the first half. I’m going to turn it around in the second half.’ Whether it’s as a group or individually or whatever.”
Andrej Jakimovski led Colorado with 17 points against Baylor. Like Kansas, the Buffaloes have just two players scoring in double figures, led by senior Julian Hammond III at 12.9 points, followed by Jakimovski’s 10.2. Dak scores 7.9 points, with a season-high 20 in a loss at Iowa State on Tuesday.
–Field Level Media
