Kansas basketball’s Big 12 tournament run ends with quick exit, loss against Cincinnati
KANSAS CITY — Kansas basketball’s Big 12 Conference tournament run during the 2023-24 season ended with a 72-52 loss in the second round against Cincinnati.
Here are a few takeaways from the No. 6-seed Jayhawks (22-10) defeat Wednesday in Kansas City inside the T-Mobile Center against No. 11-seed Cincinnati (20-13):
Kansas falls short with just 7 scholarship players available, and less than that fully healthy
Everyone knew Kansas would be without graduate senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. and senior center Hunter Dickinson, a pair of first-team, All-Big 12 honorees — Dickinson the Newcomer of the Year. But graduate senior forward Parker Braun was limited due to injury, as well, leaving the Jayhawks with not just seven scholarship players available but less than that who were deemed fully healthy.
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The 3-point disparity wasn’t what it could have been, as the Bearcats cooled off some, but it was still substantial. Junior forward KJ Adams Jr. was a bright spot, but he needed more help. All in all, the Jayhawks led for less than a minute in the contest.
An early second half run provides some life, but not enough
Kansas went into the second half trailing by 13 points and lacking any momentum. Attempts in the first half from the bench or the fans to help instill some life in the Jayhawks on the court weren’t very effective. But then, out of halftime, Kansas went on an 11-2 run that sliced the deficit to four points before five minutes had come off the clock in the second half.
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The run didn’t spark a win as the Jayhawks went on to lose by 20. But it was remarkable after the first half that it got that close, and there was a time when Kansas had the deficit down to two points.
It’s time to prepare for the NCAA tournament
It was going to be a tough task for Kansas to make much of a run in the conference tournament. A win Wednesday would have meant a game Thursday against No. 3-seed Baylor. Now, the Jayhawks have the NCAA tournament to worry about.
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What its seed will be will be revealed this weekend. It won’t rank as one of the best in Self’s tenure. That’s all but assured, even if it’s a 4-seed or 5-seed. Getting healthy is the key.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball’s Big 12 tournament run ends with loss against UC
