Kansas’ continued struggles risk ending a 78-game ranked streak

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — No. 16 Kansas has been consistently inconsistent lately and that has the Jayhawks on the verge of falling out of the Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll.

The Jayhawks, the preseason No. 1 team, has alternated between wins and losses in the last six games, including an 81-73 loss at Kansas State on Saturday. Kansas (16-7, 7-5 Big 12) trailed almost wire-to-wire, with the Jayhawks’ last lead at 21-20 with 10:56 left in the first half.

The problem for coach Bill Self’s team is that they’re not sure how to fix it.

“I don’t know,” forward KJ Adams Jr. said when asked what’s preventing a Kansas winning streak. “College basketball is in a weird time right now, when you have players coming in and out. I think we just got to figure it out as a team.”

That rankled Self.

“It’s been very difficult for us, for whatever reason, to string games of superb energy back to back, or even consistently at all,” Self said. “There are times against elite teams, we can lock anybody down, and there’s times that we can’t guard our shadow.”

Kansas has been ranked for 78 consecutive weeks, the second-longest current streak in Division I (Houston, 99). Over the past three weeks, Kansas has alternated wins over TCU, UCF and Iowa State, with losses to Houston, Baylor and Kansas State.

The good news for Kansas is that there is still time to figure it out.

“I would say the biggest thing we’re trying to accomplish in these next six games is to string together consistency,” Hunter Dickinson said. “I think that’s the only thing that I would say Coach Self would look for, and I think it’s pretty right.

“If we can just get consistency these next six games, that would be very inspiring and very good for our hopes in the (NCAA) Tournament, because in the Tournament you have to string together six straight games of consistent effort and consistent play. One bad game can end your season at any point.”

One of the big issues for Kansas on Saturday was point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. picked up three quick fouls and played only four minutes in the first half. He played the entire second half but only scored four points.

“It crushed us,” Self said of Harris’ absence. “They were bad plays. I didn’t see the last one. They said he tripped him, which may have been a good call. I’m not saying it wasn’t.

“Playing without one of our best guys is not good for us. We need him out there for some stability and consistency.”

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