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KANSAS-6 WIN AT OKLAHOMA-3
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Some years during this stretch, Bill Self admits, his Jayhawks caught breaks. Other times, they were led by future lottery picks who simply overmatched and overwhelmed their opponents for weeks on end. Throughout it all, they’ve won a whole bunch of games … and, somehow, they’ve done that again this year. Somehow they’ve beaten a true national title contender — twice — in the most thrilling games of an undoubtedly wacky regular season. Somehow, though they’re currently tied with West Virginia atop the Big 12 standings with three road games to go over the final few weeks, they’re on the inside track for No. 12.Kansas Jayhawks forward Perry Ellis (34) drives to the basket in front of Oklahoma Sooners forward Khadeem Lattin (12) during the first half at Lloyd Noble Center.Self said winning a conference championship this season would likely mean more than the 11 before it.“You know, we won the league three years in a row with the best player in the country playing somewhere else — Blake (Griffin), Kevin (Durant), (Michael) Beasley,” Self said. “I think this year, to me, would mean — I think it would mean more.
Maybe because it’s the (most recent) one. But this is the best our league’s been. Also, our personnel is good, really good — I’m not going to apologize for our personnel. But we’ve run some lottery picks out there in the past, and we’re not running them out there right now. It’s more of a really grind-it-out type of team effort.”As Self reminded us after the game Saturday, the first school Graham signed with was Appalachian State, and Frank Mason III signed with Towson. Yet the duo now make up of the best backcourts in the best conference in the country; that’s the kind of team this Kansas squad is.Kansas Jayhawks guard Frank Mason III (0) drives to the basket against Oklahoma Sooners center Jamuni McNeace (4) and Oklahoma Sooners guard Dinjiyl Walker (2) during the first half at Lloyd Noble Center.This is also the kind of season that has to be among Self's best coaching jobs. He's pieced together various lineups depending on what might work best for a specific opponent — for example, he went, successfully, to a four-guard lineup during part of Saturday's game after talking out its merits with former Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg this week — and also figured out how to maximize players who have shown mere flashes of potential the last few years, such as Wayne Selden Jr. He's pushed his players to their limits (and various overtime periods) and to 21 wins. It's impressive to say the least — and frustrating if you're another Big 12 coach.Oklahoma's Lon Kruger has watched, firsthand, as Kansas has won four consecutive league titles. He might have just watched his best Sooners team miss its opportunity to end The Streak, suffering another nail-biting defeat in the final seconds, this time because of the oddest of circumstances: A missed would-be game-tying free throw with 25 seconds left by none other than Hield, a 90% free throw shooter.
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