Kansas still in Big 12 title hunt with 3 games left to play
LAWRENCE, KAN. — Bill Self seemed to be searching the air inside Allen Fieldhouse for an answer, trying in vain to think back nearly 15 years to a time Kansas did not control its own destiny in the Big 12 title race.
"I don't know that I can remember a time," Self said.
Other than this year, of course.
The No. 15-ranked Jayhawks kept alive their hopes of winning an unprecedented 15th consecutive crown with a dominant 64-49 victory over league-leading Kansas State on Monday night. But they are still a game back of the Wildcats with three games to play — two of which are on the road, where Kansas has struggled all season — and trail Texas Tech by a half-game heading into the finishing stretch.
None of those three contenders plays each other the rest of the way, which means everybody from TCU to Oklahoma State will have a say in whether the Jayhawks' streak lives on another year.
"Going into the last three," Self said, "I don't know a situation where if we didn't win out we wouldn't win it. But yeah, I'm not worried about the streak. I'm worried about his team trying to compete for it. We've been so poor on the road. We just need to get a win in Stillwater (on Saturday), and if we get a win in Stillwater we can talk about it. But we have to get a win on the road."
Kansas is just 2-7 away from home, lowlighted by a humiliating 29-point blowout loss at Texas Tech last weekend. They lost by 17 at Iowa State. They lost at West Virginia, one of the Mountaineers' two Big 12 wins. They were dumped by 10 at Texas and roughed up three weeks ago at Kansas State.
The rest of the Top 25 entering Tuesday night's games were a combined 159-62 away from home, and the only ranked team that doesn't have a winning record is Purdue at 5-5.
Kansas (21-7, 10-5) had better figure out its road woes soon. Its next two games are at Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.