Kansas slogs out win against Texas, but Jayhawks remain vulnerable

Despite what the pedigree of the players and the fluctuating rhythms of any given season say, despite the fact Kansas would probably be a No. 1 seed if the NCAA Tournament committee were making its bracket now, two losses in three games were enough to inspire anxieties.

Then came a jumbled, clumsy start against Texas on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse, where KU had been 199-9 under coach Bill Self but suddenly looked anything but impregnable.

As the Jayhawks were making just two of their first 12 field goals and committing four turnovers, Texas seized a 17-5 lead.

And who could distinguish the team that was ranked third and seeking its 12th straight conference title from the one that was unranked and finding its way?

“If you’re just an honest spectator and (had) never seen us or Texas play,” Self said, you’d be asking yourself “ ‘Ooh, who’s better?’ ”

But shrugging off its early slog, Kansas won 76-67 in a game that served to remind of both its edge and vulnerability in this beast of a conference.

“You guys may not feel this way, (but) to me, this was the most important game of our season thus far,” Self said. “Because we needed to eliminate the negative momentum. We were in a rut. We were in a funk.”

KU won, essentially, because it got stronger through the game.

That’s a hopeful sign for a team that had been laboring with fatigue — whether emotional or physical — since the epic triple-overtime victory over Oklahoma on Jan. 4.

With a nod to KU, Texas coach Shaka Smart said, “The best teams have a high, high level of resolve and toughness.”

That will get further severe tests pronto, as Kansas travels to Iowa State for its game Monday and then plays host to Kentucky on Saturday.

But even with the nice respite on Saturday, even knowing that there are lulls in every season, this remains a process in progress for Self.

He really likes what he has but still can’t claim full faith in what he’s got going, either, which, in fact, may be the way he feels every year about this time.

In this particular case, defense comes and goes, the offense is prone to being stagnant, and he still doesn’t quite know how these personalities all mesh — which is why he was left meeting with his veteran leaders earlier this week.

And then there’s this:

“The thing about it is in sports, and I’ve been doing this for a while and you guys have been following it for a while, some things are not really explainable,” Self said.

So why doesn’t it all click all the time, Self asked himself rhetorically.

“ ‘Well, (heck), I don’t know,’ ” he said, smiling and later adding, “And you (in the media) don’t either, but you’ll write like you do a lot of times.’ ”

Whatever had been constraining the Jayhawks, Self said, “it’s not in our heart … but more between our ears.”

He offered a minor but intriguing example of the sort of thing that might gunk things up.

“You have a kid say, ‘Well, if I guard it the way you say, how do I know that somebody behind me’s going to do what he’s supposed to do, because he didn’t do it last time,’ ” he said. “Just things like that, and guys get hesitant (with) really kind of, not selfish play, but selfish thoughts. It’s not a big deal, but it’s no, you’ve got to trust.”

So trust is trumping everything else right now from Self, even as depletion and attrition have become an obvious part of this grueling conference race.

On Saturday, Self played Frank Mason for 39 minutes, Wayne Selden and Devonte Graham 37 and Perry Ellis 35.

Meanwhile, forwards Landen Lucas (23 minutes) and Jamari Traylor (15) basically split time with freshmen Carlton Bragg playing just 5 minutes and Cheick Diallo not at all.

Maybe that will change.

Maybe the time will come this season when Self will see Bragg and Diallo’s in-game development as crucial to success in March.

But at least for now, Self is more attuned to the precious present and having more to stand and count on.

“The really good teams that we’ve had here, you knew when we went on the road, if you played well, you were going to win, and the chances were four out of five you would play well,” he said. “I don’t have that feeling this time. Don’t know that.”

What he does know is that when they do play together, well, “we do look really good.”

Keeping it going that way is another matter.

It’s a cluttered clump at the top of the conference, with KU embroiled in a four-way first-place tie at 5-2.

They’re as free to win it as lose it now, when Self says “the separation between us and whoever else is minimal. It’s less than it’s ever been.”

But maintaining that dynastic hold isn’t the measure of the season.

It’s what the Jayhawks can do in the NCAA Tournament, in which they’ve lost in the second round the last two years.

Getting this right for that stretch is the most urgent matter for Self.

How he gets it there, and how successfully, may be more by feel than anything explainable — at least until it’s viewed in hindsight.

This story was originally published January 23, 2016 at 9:01 PM with the headline "Kansas slogs out win against Texas, but Jayhawks remain vulnerable."