On Wednesday night, No. 9 Kansas (12-3; 3-1) and No. 2 Iowa State (14-1; 4-0) will clash inside Hilton Coliseum.
In starting the season with an impressive 14-1 record, Iowa State owns victories over Mississippi Valley State, Kansas City, IU Indianapolis, Dayton, Colorado, No. 5 Marquette (ranking at the time), Jackson State, Iowa, Omaha, Morgan State, Colorado, No. 25 Baylor (ranking at the time), Utah, and Texas Tech.
This season, Iowa State, whose only loss came at the hands of No. 4 Auburn (ranking at the time) in Maui back on November 25, is led by Curtis Jones (off the bench; 17.3), Keshon Gilbert (16.1), Joshua Jefferson (12.0), Tamin Lipsey (10.4), and Milan Momcilovic (10.3).
With a clash between Kansas and Iowa State looming, does Bill Self see Wednesday's showdown as a “must-win” for the Jayhawks?
“Yes, it's way too early,” said Self. “Whenever you go on the road and you got to have a must-win at the No. 2 ranked team in the country, that puts a little bit too much pressure on a situation. We should go up there and play free and play easy. And I'm not lying; I wish that Iowa State would've lost. I wish Texas would've lost. I wish Arizona would've lost. As a matter of fact, I wish there was like 15 other teams in our league that lost on Saturday, but that's not how it works. So, I don't consider us being in the race at this moment. I don't consider us being out of it.
“I think we put ourself in a hard position,” he added. “If you looked at the conference race, you guys know we play; our schedule is different than most. We're playing the two best teams in our league twice each. So those are hard games. But the biggest thing is, hey, let's just try to get better each and every day. And we got a great opportunity on Wednesday.”
While calling Wednesday's Big 12 battle between Kansas and Iowa State a “must-win" this early in the season is a bit much, a win by the Jayhawks would legitimize Kansas as a serious contender in the race for the regular season championship.
Kansas, after losing at home to West Virginia in the Big 12 opener, needs to “steal” one on the road. The Jayhawks have the perfect opportunity to do just that in Ames.
A big key for Kansas on Wednesday will not only be the ability to hit shots and find its rhythm on the offensive end of the court, but more than anything else, the Jayhawks must continue to defend at a high level.
If you go back to the second half against UCF, Arizona State, and Cincinnati, Kansas has given up a total of just 51 points in the second half against those three opponents. Self’s squad gave up 23 second-half points at UCF, 13 second-half points against Arizona State, and 15 second-half points at Cincinnati.
Self, on Monday, talked about the effort on the defensive end of the court in the previous three games.
“Yeah, I actually think we've guarded much better the last two games,” said Self. “I shouldn't say that 74 is not a bad number, but we haven't scored easily the last two games, so we scored a lot easier down in Florida. But the other day, everything was tough, and felt like we were laboring every possession.
“But in all honesty, they got a really good defensive team as well,” he added.
During KU’s current three-game winning streak, a big key for the Jayhawks, especially on the defensive end of the court, has been the emergence of Shakeel Moore.
In his last three games, all starts, Moore has scored a total of 22 points, dished out nine assists, committed just three turnovers, pulled down eight rebounds, and been credited with four steals.
Self, during his weekly press conference on Monday, talked about the impact Moore has had since earning a spot in the starting rotation.
“I think he has been,” said Self when asked if Shakeel Moore has been a spark for Kansas. “I do. It allows Juan not to guard the power guard. It allows a lot of different things. I think to your point, he's probably got as good a defense anticipation instincts as anybody we have on our team and he can make some plays athletically with his strength that other guys don't make.
“So it's a great question, but I think he has sparked us,” he added. “I think he has sparked us and he hasn't done it in a way that translates to points as much, but he's certainly done it in a way that translates to energy or runouts or something that we get that we don't have to earn.”
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