KU atop standings one-third of way through Big 12 play; Baylor visits Saturday

A four-game winning streak that includes victories at TCU and West Virginia has Kansas in sole possession of first place one-third of the way through the 2017-18 Big 12 basketball season.

“It’s early. You have one bad week and you can go from first to fifth or sixth or whatever it is,” KU coach Bill Self said Thursday when asked to examine the standings heading into this weekend’s action which includes Saturday’s game against Baylor. Tipoff is 5 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse, with a live telecast on ESPN.

“We understand that. At least the staff does. We’re trying to get our players to understand that,” Self added.

The No. 10-ranked Jayhawks (15-3, 5-1) enter the game against the Bears (12-6, 2-4) with a full one-game lead over three schools — Texas Tech, West Virginia and Oklahoma — who all stand 4-2. Kansas State and Texas are 3-3, TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State are 2-4 and Iowa State is 1-5.

“There has been talk about the streak from media outlets obviously,” Self said. By winning league last season, Kansas tied UCLA for most consecutive regular-season conference titles at 13. The Bruins also won 13 straight from 1967-79.

Winning league this year would give KU an unprecedented 14 in a row.

“We haven’t talked about that at all,” said Self, whose Jayhawks have already dropped one league game at Allen Fieldhouse — to Texas Tech. “We just want to try to compete for our first. This would be the first with this group together. Our players have heard the rhetoric enough about the streak. I’ll be honest with you. We’ve been vulnerable. We’ve been vulnerable about every year but somehow have kind of rallied around that. Hopefully we’ll do the same this year because the league is so good.

“I think for anybody who wins the league this year it would be the best win anybody has had during our entire streak. I believe the league is that good,” Self added.

Self, in fact, calls Saturday’s opponent, Baylor, “one of the best teams in the country.”

Yet the four-loss Bears are tied for seventh in the league at this stage of the season.

“I don’t want to say they got off to a slow start,” Self said. “So much is depending on competition,” Self said.

Baylor — which is led by the guard/forward combo of Manu Lecomte (16.9 points per game 55 assists, 33 turnovers) and Jo Lual-Acuil (15.4 points per game, 9.5 rebounds per game) — has lost in the league at Iowa State (75-65), West Virginia (57-54) and Texas Tech (77-53) and at home to TCU (81-78, OT) while winning in Waco against Texas (69-60) and Oklahoma State (76-60).

“They obviously had a good outing the last time out,” Self added of the win over Oklahoma State in which Lecomte hit seven three-pointers and scored 30 points.

Baylor coach Scott Drew did not dispute Self’s assertion that the Bears have an elite team.

“I definitely think when we are at full strength and playing well we can beat anybody,” Drew said. “The great thing about this year they can say that about everybody in the Big 12. Each and every one of our teams is more than capable of beating anybody. That doesn’t just include people in the Big 12. I mean that’s nationwide.”

Kansas has defeated Baylor 10 straight times. However, the last four meetings have been decided by 6, 4, 5 and 2 points. Baylor has led at halftime in each of the last four meetings.

“It seems every game we play against Baylor comes down to the last possession regardless of where we play them,” Self said. “We anticipate it being a very competitive game.”

The Bears, who are known for their 2-3 defense, allow 66.9 points per game on 40.1 percent shooting while averaging 77.6 ppg on 48 percent shooting. KU averages 85.0 points per game on 50.6 percent shooting and allows 69.9 points per game on 40.2 percent marksmanship.

“They are playing more man than they have in recent years,” Self said of the Bears. “I still think having to attack their zone is a big key for anyone wanting to have offensive success against them. We have to do a good job on their point guard and a good job on their big. That’s a pretty big combination for a team to have a terrific point and 7-footer inside.”

Drew downplayed the Bears using a man defense more in 2017-18.

“It’s just something we do,” he said. “Some games our zone works better. Some games our man works better. It’s just two options we have. Sometimes Kansas will double the post. Sometimes they don’t. It’s just an option they have.”

A Baylor victory over a KU team that has already dropped two games at Allen this season (Arizona State and Texas Tech) would assist a batch of teams hoping to prevent KU from winning league title No. 14 in a row.

“I do think that the formula for having great league records is holding serve at home and stealing some on the road,” Self said. “We’ve been able to steal some. We haven’t been able to hold serve at home.”

“I think when everyone goes there you are dealing with great players, a great coach, a great program,” said Drew of playing at Kansas. Baylor is 0-14 all-time at Allen Fieldhouse, 0-15 in Lawrence with one game at Hoch Auditorium. “When you are playing the best, you’ve got to be perfect to win on the road. It’s hard to win in the Big 12. That’s a place just harder than other places from why I stated.”

KU will travel to Oklahoma for a game against the Sooners on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. tipoff.