No. 8 Jayhawks look to kick road woes with visit to Texas Tech
Kansas is much better at home than on the road, but it has a good chance to begin showing improvement.
The No. 8 Jayhawks attempt to bounce back from another road defeat and continue their dominance of struggling Texas Tech on Tuesday night.
Kansas (19-4, 8-2 Big 12) has won all 12 home games, averaging 77.9 points and shooting 47.3 percent. The Jayhawks aren't even approaching those numbers in true road contests, going 4-3 with 66.4 points per game while connecting on 41.3 percent from the field.
Their issues away from Lawrence continued Saturday with a 67-62 loss Oklahoma State to snap a five-game winning streak. Kansas converted just 39.6 percent of its attempts and missed nine of 19 from the line while committing a season-high 18 turnovers.
"We just didn't play very well," coach Bill Self said. "You can't look at any individual on our team and say they had a good game. We had a couple guys make some shots, but we didn't play very well. We didn't coach them very well. We didn't do anything very well."
That certainly applies to Perry Ellis, who shot four for 12 to finish with 10 points after totaling 33 on 13-of-22 shooting over the two previous games - both at home.
The junior forward averages 10.4 points on the road on 34.6 percent shooting, a drop of 18.6 from his season mark at Allen Fieldhouse.
Ellis and his teammates could be poised for a better performance in Lubbock. He scored a game-high 15 points in 22 minutes as Kansas coasted to an 85-54 rout of Texas Tech (12-12, 2-9) on Jan. 10.
That was the 11th straight win in the series for the Jayhawks, whose average margin of victory in those games is 24.1 points. They've won the last four meetings in Lubbock, though the most recent was a 64-63 victory Feb. 18. - the only matchup in the 11-game span decided by less than 12 points.
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Freshman Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 14 against Texas Tech last month, but he's totaled nine points while missing 12 of 15 shots -- all seven from long range -- in the last three road contests.
The Red Raiders were never close in Saturday's 75-38 loss at then-No. 11 Iowa State, their ninth defeat in 11 games this year. Reserve guard Toddrick Gotcher had 11 points and was the only player in double figures for Texas Tech, which shot 30.9 percent overall and missed all seven free throws.
"We had a good shootaround. We worked hard (Friday)," coach Tubby Smith said. "We've been working on shooting a lot, in-between shots, 3-point shots. It's all concentration and confidence. When you lack, it can be a long day."
Smith's team was held under 40 points for the second time in four games and ranks last in the Big 12 with 53.8 points and a 34.9 shooting percentage in league contests.
Texas Tech, though, has won two straight at home, averaging 71.0 points on 46.8 percent from the floor and making 20 of 43 from beyond the arc.
Devaugntah Williams was a force in those victories over Iowa State and Kansas State, scoring 22 in each matchup. However, the junior guard is coming off Saturday's four-point performance on 2-of-9 shooting.
He was even worse against Kansas last month, finishing with three points on one of six.
