The final week of the regular season has arrived, but Kansas isn’t operating like a program preparing to make a deep NCAA Tournament run.
The No. 14 Jayhawks have dropped three of their past five games — by 18, 16 and 23 points — as they enter Tuesday’s Big 12 contest against Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz.
Kansas (21-8, 11-5 Big 12) is tied for fourth place in the tough Big 12 and finishes the regular season on Saturday against visiting Kansas State.
Despite the recent issues, the Jayhawks remain in the running for a top-four finish and a double-bye for the upcoming Big 12 conference tourney.
“Very important. These next two are big,” Kansas guard Melvin Council Jr. said. “We’ve got to get that double-bye for the Big 12 tournament.”
Kansas was routed 84-61 by No. 2 Arizona on Saturday, a contest in which they allowed a 19-0 run.
The Jayhawks shot 33.8% from the field and were mauled on the boards with Arizona holding a 48-26 rebounding advantage.
“I thought they physically dominated us inside, that was evident to anybody watching, and then our shot selection was so poor,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.
“… I thought they were so, so aggressive. I thought that we played really soft to be real honest with you.”
Freshman Darryn Peterson scored 24 points for his eighth 20-point effort of the season. But he was just 8 of 21 from the field.
Peterson leads the Jayhawks in scoring (19.7 points per game) and with 50 3-pointers despite playing in just 18 games. Tre White (14.0), Flory Bidunga (13.8) and Council (13.5) also average more than 13 points per game.
Bidunga leads the Big 12 in field-goal percentage (64.8) and blocked shots (77) and ranks fifth in rebounding (9.0).
Kansas’ other two recent blowout losses came at Iowa State (74-56 on Feb. 14) and home against Cincinnati (84-68 on Feb. 21).
Arizona State (15-14, 6-10) has won three of its past five games after recording a 73-60 home victory over Utah on Saturday. The Sun Devils committed a season-low five turnovers.
Much of the talk around the Sun Devils is centering on 11th-year coach Bobby Hurley.
Hurley has guided Arizona State to three NCAA Tournament berths but the Sun Devils finished below .500 in four of the previous five seasons and could do so again this season.
Athletic director Graham Rossini recently said a decision on Hurley’s future will be made following the end of the season.
Arizona State closes the regular season at Iowa State on Saturday before heading to the Big 12 tournament.
Leading scorer Maurice Odum fought through a lingering foot injury to score 15 points against Utah. It was his 11th straight double-digit effort.
“I’m just happy we secured this win and kept the lead and we have to do it in the next two games,” Odum said.
Odum has made three or more 3-pointers in 10 consecutive games. He is averaging 17.1 points and also leads the team with 5.9 assists per game, 82 3-pointers and 40 steals.
Odum wants to see the momentum of the Utah victory carry into the Kansas contest.
“We just have to keep going over the film, looking at what we did correctly, and just follow the scout every game,” Odum said. “… We get that energy from the game we watched over the film. We should have some wins rolling.”
Massamba Diop added 14 points for the Sun Devils, Anthony “Pig” Johnson had 13 off the bench and Santiago Trouet added 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Kansas notched a 74-55 home victory over Arizona State last season.
