From the tip, it was pretty clear who was going to win this game. The Jayhawks took the lead after an opening 3 point bucket by the Cowboys and never looked back after the 17:47 mark in the first half.
The game plan was simple, feed the big men. Jeff Withey looked unstoppable in the paint and could have been on his way to another career scoring night and Thomas Robinson added his usual double double.
Withey ended up with 18 points, but 20 rebounds and the entire starting lineup ended up with double digit scoring. The Hawks were up as much as 29 points early in the second half and looked to cruise to the end of the game, until it happened. They lost focus. Kansas let up on the accelerator and left the door open for OSU to climb back in the game and find some confidence.
No longer did they feed Withey down low. No longer were they running smooth offense. They once again looked offensive and sloppy. Turnovers, missed shots, you name it and Kansas was doing it.
Oklahoma State got the lead down to 12, and then finally Kansas decided it was time to secure a lead to win and ended up winning by 15.
Oklahoma State is now 5-7 in the Big 12 and 12-13 overall. Sure, they beat Missouri in Stillwater, but other than that they have no signature wins and don't look to be a NCAA tournament selection at the end of the year. Kansas should have won by 30, not 15. It goes back to a major concern of lack of focus and aggression. Another issue is lack of bench scoring, still. If you cannot get quality minutes and points (only 4 points from Kevin Young this game) from your bench, Bill Self cannot feel confident to get his starters out for rest. The starting 5 are forced to play longer minutes and wear out faster.
Kansas needed this win to keep pace with Missouri in the race for the Big 12 lead. Each is now at 10-2 with Baylor losing to Missouri giving breathing room between first and second in the league.
The Hawks need to put a solid 40 minutes together and get some scoring help from the bench.
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