No. 2 Kansas visits struggling Oklahoma (Jan 10, 2017)
NORMAN, Okla. -- Some things never change, like second-ranked Kansas' stranglehold on the Big 12 and the Jayhawks' position as one of college basketball's powers.
Some things do, like Oklahoma's plunge from Final Four team a year ago to the basement of the Big 12 through three conference games.
A year ago when the Jayhawks and Sooners met for the first time, the teams provided one of the highlights of last season -- a thrilling 109-106 triple-overtime win by Kansas that also jump-started Oklahoma's Buddy Hield's national player of the year candidacy.
But this Oklahoma team isn't the one that pushed Kansas to the brink with Hield's spectacular 46-point performance and eventually advanced to the Final Four.
Oklahoma enters Tuesday night's first meeting between the teams riding a six-game losing streak and still without its best scorer, Jordan Woodard.
Woodard will miss his fifth consecutive game and fourth with an undisclosed medical condition after sitting out Oklahoma's Dec. 21 loss to Auburn with an upper-leg injury.
He did return to practice Monday but will not play against Kansas.
Jayhawks coach Bill Self isn't about to take anything for granted, though.
"To win a league you have to win at home, but you also have to go win games that you have a chance to win on the road," Self said. "We went to TCU and got it done, and certainly this would be a great win, as far as the league race goes, to go to Norman and get it done.
"I've watched them and I know their players are dangerous and we can't allow them to get in a rhythm playing well, which I know they're very capable of."
Kansas has been on a roll since a season-opening overtime loss to Indiana, winning 14 consecutive games.
"One of the top one or two teams in the country," Sooners coach Lon Kruger said. "Very talented. Bill does a great job. Their club is playing with a high level of confidence and does a lot of things very well. Just a very good team."
Kansas hasn't been dominant in Big 12 play, though, winning close games at TCU and at home against Kansas State before a 17-point win over Texas Tech on Saturday that was the program's 2,200th victory, something Self downplayed.
"I think we're about 15-18 wins behind Kentucky, so it's going to take a few years to catch those 'Cats," Self said. "But if we could ever get to the No. 1 slot, then that to me would mean quite a bit. That means that these particular teams would be doing something pretty remarkable."
The Jayhawks can afford to have such thoughts.
For Oklahoma, the focus is on improvement as much as anything as the Sooners' chances for a fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament have slipped away over the last month.
"When you're not winning ballgames, it's a challenge," Kruger said. "We know they're going to keep working at it and their effort is gonna be there. They have to maintain a fresh mindset as well and come every day and get better.
"That's the only answer and there's no quick fix to it. You have to keep growing and getting better from each experience."
