Kansas loses 3 straight for first time since 2013

NORMAN, Okla. — De’Vion Harmon scored 22 points as Oklahoma beat No. 9 Kansas 75-68 on Saturday for its second victory this month over a top-10 opponent and the Jayhawks’ first three-game losing streak since February 2013.

Oklahoma (9-4, 5-3 Big 12) has won three of its past four games against Kansas (10-5, 4-4) in Norman and is 8-1 at home this season at the Lloyd Noble Center. Included in that record is a win over then-No. 9 West Virginia on Jan. 2.

Marcus Garrett had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Jayhawks, who entered the game coming off losses at Oklahoma State and No. 2 Baylor. Kansas entered the game leading the Big 12 in rebounding margin, but the Sooners outrebounded them 36-25 and held the Jayhawks to two offensive rebounds.

Jalen Wilson added 13 points for Kansas.

“We go back to practice,” Kansas coach Bill Self said of how the team will handle a third straight loss. “We’re just like 97% of the other teams in America. We’ve had a hard stretch, but we’ve played three road games against tournament teams. I don’t think we’re talented enough not to have a hard stretch if we don’t play well, if we’re playing on the road against teams that are tournament teams.

“I don’t think that it’s broken. I do think that it certainly needs some repairing. I think we need a boost of energy. We may need to shake things up a little bit lineup-wise. … I told our guys the storybook season is done, as far as winning all your games and [getting] a 1 or 2 seed, that’s probably done. What we have to create is a storybook ending. That’s still in play.”

A 9-2 run by Oklahoma broke open what had been a one-possession game, and Austin Reaves‘ first basket (after starting with seven misses) put the Sooners ahead 60-54 with 5:53 left.

Kansas pulled within 63-60 when Ochai Agbaji split a pair of free throws with 3:40 left, but Reaves and Umoja Gibson each followed with driving layups to make it 67-60. Kansas came no closer than four points the rest of the way.

“Big-time battle,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. “Both teams, I thought, fought like crazy. Buckets were hard to come by, at times, on both ends of the floor. Again, just proud of our guys. A game that could have gone either way. Guys hung in there, got a little bit of a margin there late, made free throws late and did a good job to close it out.”

Reaves, Elijah Harkless, Harmon and Reaves again each hit two free throws in the final 1:36 for the Sooners. Reaves scored 16 points, all in the second half, and made 10 of 11 free throws.

“I was just struggling the first half. I didn’t play well, and that’s on me, 100% on me, and I mean, it’s in the past now,” Reaves said. “You go to halftime, you regroup, and then you go out and you do what you can do to help the team win. But we really just stuck with the plan, stuck with what the coaches wanted us to do, and at the end, we came out with a good win.”

Kansas put Oklahoma in the bonus early in the second half, and the Sooners took advantage, making 18 of 22 foul shots after not having a free throw attempt in the first half. Kansas made 10 of 14 free throws.

Garrett said Self’s postgame message was simple: “We’ve got to come together. Something has to change. The season is definitely not going how we expected it, but something has to change.”

BIG PICTURE

Kansas: The Jayhawks went 0-3 during a brutal stretch of road games, but they know no one will feel sorry for them. Self will continue to look for solutions to prevent his team from losing four straight for the first time since 1988-89, Roy Williams’ first season as Kansas coach.

Oklahoma: The Sooners haven’t cracked the Top 25 this season but now are in sole possession of third place in a league with five top-15 teams. With two wins over top-10 opponents this month, the Sooners are looking like a potential NCAA tournament team.

UP NEXT

Kansas: Will play its first home game in 19 days on Thursday, facing TCU.

Oklahoma: Will try to win at No. 5 Texas for a second straight season when visiting the Longhorns on Tuesday.

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