KU notes: Bill Self stays cautious concerning Big 12 race

At the midway point of the Big 12 season, Kansas is 8-1 in the conference with a 1 1/2 -game lead over second-place West Virginia, which plays tonight at Oklahoma. The Jayhawks have a two-game lead over Iowa State, 6-3.

But KU coach Bill Self remains cautious about reading too much into the league standings in the first week of February.

“It’s way too premature to even be thinking like that,” Self said. “I’m not going to think like that. We’re not going to talk like that. We just need to try and prepare to go play at Oklahoma State and play well. And we haven’t historically played great in their building. That will be a big challenge for us.”

The Jayhawks play at Oklahoma State on Saturday before traveling to Texas Tech next Tuesday.

“If you’re able to go steal another game or two on the road, then you’ll be in better shape.” Self said. “But hey, we’ve got five road games left and if we don’t go and play well, we’ll go 0-5.”

First half

▪ Key play: Trailing 18-11 in the opening minutes of the first half, Brannen Greene ignited KU’s offense with the first of two three-pointers in the half.

▪ Key stat: Iowa State had zero fast-break points.

Second half

▪ Key play: Wayne Selden began a run of eight straight points with a three-pointer from the wing with 17:08 left.

▪ Key stat: KU was 10 of 21 from three-point range.

This story was originally published February 2, 2015 at 11:56 PM with the headline "KU notes: Bill Self stays cautious concerning Big 12 race."