Kansas Jayhawks basketball puts 30-game Big 12 streak on the line at Oklahoma State
Iowa State’s basketball team went 0-18 in Big 12 Conference play during Jalen Coleman-Lands’ one season with the Cyclones.
The new Kansas Jayhawks player’s quest to go from last to first in one of the country’s premier men’s basketball leagues will begin Tuesday night against Oklahoma State at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Tipoff for the game between No. 6-ranked KU (11-1) and OSU (7-4) is 8 p.m. (ESPN2).
“I’m excited. The first conference game is an opportunity to set the tone,” said Coleman-Lands, a 6-foot-4, 25-year-old native of Indianapolis, Indiana who is concluding his college career at KU after stops at ISU, DePaul and Illinois. He tuned up for league play Saturday by scoring 20 points in KU’s 76-67 victory over George Mason at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I’m focused on trying to get better each game,” Coleman-Lands stated.
There may be a sense of urgency for KU to win the opener after what happened over the weekend. No. 1-ranked Baylor, which claimed the conference crown with a 13-1 record in 2020-21 (KU finished runner-up at 12-6) opened with a 77-72 win on the road Saturday against previously undefeated, No. 11-ranked Iowa State.
No. 14-ranked Texas (11-2) and Oklahoma (which is receiving votes in the AP poll at 11-2) also won their Big 12 openers on Saturday — both in their home arenas. Iowa State, K-State and West Virginia dropped their openers, KSU and West Virginia’s setbacks coming on the road.
KU, OSU, Texas Tech and TCU begin conference play this week.
“I really think it’s better than whatever we’ve had before and we’ve had some great ones. The last six years we’ve probably had the No. 1 league four times out of six,” 19th-year KU coach Bill Self said.
“There’s probably quite a bit of separation this year going in (to conference play). It’s head and shoulders the toughest league (in the country) so far. We’re looking at Iowa State and Baylor, a combined 23-0, playing each other in their first league game. TCU and us were 20-2 going into our first league game (moved from Saturday to a yet-to-be-determined date because of COVID in the Frogs’ program). I think it’ll be as good a league as we’ve ever had.”
For KU to open 1-0, the Jayhawks will have to win in a building where victories have been tough to come by in the Self era. Self’s KU teams are 22-11 overall against the Cowboys as KU coach. OSU coach Mike Boynton is 3-6 versus the Jayhawks.
However, Self’s KU teams are two under .500 at 6-8 in OSU’s Gallagher-Iba Arena, site of Tuesday’s game
KU during the Self era has a losing record on the road against just one other team in the league. The Jayhawks are 3-6 versus West Virginia at the Mountaineers’ WVU Coliseum.
Self’s KU teams are 14-4 against Baylor at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas; 13-5 against Iowa State in Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa; 13-5 at Kansas State’s Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan; 8-6 at Oklahoma’s Noble Arena in Norman, Oklahoma; 8-6 at Texas’ Erwin Center in Austin, Texas; 10-4 at Texas Tech’s’ United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas and 6-1 at TCU’s Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. KU also won a game against TCU at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center in Fort Worth in 2014-15 when Schollmaier was being renovated.
“That’s the hardest place for us to win at in our league, at least it has been historically for Kansas,” Self said of Gallagher-Iba, where KU is 36-36 all-time.
“I know their personnel really well and they’re going to play four guards at all times and possibly five sometimes. Those guards really hurt us last year (Avery) Anderson and (Bryce) Williams both killed us last year, especially at their place.”
KU went 1-1 versus Oklahoma State last year, winning in Lawrence and losing in Stillwater.
“Of course they had a guy named Cunningham that wasn’t bad either,” Self said of Cade Cunningham, a one-and-done player who was selected No. 1 in the 2021 NBA Draft. “They’re capable of beating anybody.”
The Jayhawks are quite familiar with one of the Cowboys. OSU sophomore guard Bryce Thompson transferred from KU to Oklahoma State last offseason. The 6-5 Tulsa, Oklahoma native has averaged 8.5 points and 2.2 rebounds a game in 10 games. He’s averaged 23.4 minutes a game and started seven of the 10 contests he’s participated in.
Thompson, who has been hobbled by a hip injury the past few weeks, has made 33 of 81 shots for 40.7%, including 9 of 30 threes for 30%. He has eight assists to 12 turnovers.
At KU last year he averaged 4.6 points on 35.3% shooting and 1.5 rebounds per game. He averaged 17.1 minutes a game in 20 games and started four games. He finished with 22 assists to 21 turnovers as a Jayahawk.
“I’ve talked to him a little bit. I know he was hurt (in December),” said KU junior guard Christian Braun. ”Hopefully he gets back healthy and gets back to being Bryce. I think he has a really good mid-range game,” Braun added. “He has a knack for scoring. I’m excited to see his success (at OSU).”
Of Tuesday’s game, Thompson told the Tulsa World: “There’s going to be something there because I used to go there last year. But at the same time, I just try to take it and just do what I do.”
OSU coach Boynton told the World: “I’m sure there’s a little bit of him that’s looking forward to playing well. But we’ve got to guard ourselves against trying to make it about one person. If Bryce comes out thinking he’s got to prove to coach Self that he should have started every game, we’re not going to do very well.”
KU enters Tuesday’s game having won 30 straight conference openers dating to the 1991-92 season, with 12 of those victories at home and 18 on the road. The Jayhawks kept the streak alive last year by beating Texas Tech, 58-56, in the league opener in Lubbock. KU’s last loss in a conference opener was 88-82 at Oklahoma on January 8, 1991.
“I think Coach will have us ready. That’s what he does which allows us to play our best ball,” said KU forward Mitch Lightfoot, who will be making his first start of the season with David McCormack coming off the bench for the first time in 2021-22.
“Oklahoma State has a good team. We’ve got to understand playing in Stillwater is a task. We’ve got to go down there and be comfortable doing it,” Lightfoot added.
OSU may not be at full strength. Boynton told the Tulsa World on Monday that the Cowboys were hit hard by COVID in late December. The Cowboys had three players available to practice on Dec. 26, four on Dec. 27 and 10 (including walk-ons) Friday. Boynton told the media he does not expect to have everyone available vs. KU.
The Cowboys’ game against Texas Tech on Saturday was postponed because of COVID issues in OSU’s program. OSU’s last game was on Dec. 18, a 72-61 loss to Houston.
