Kansas guard Dajuan Harris Jr. (3) goes to the basket in front of Oklahoma guard Grant Sherfield, left, in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, in Norman, Okla. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks (20-5 overall, 8-4 Big 12) at Oklahoma State Cowboys (16-9 overall, 7-5 Big 12)

Time: 8 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023

Location: Gallagher-Iba Arena, Stillwater, Oklahoma

TV: ESPN | Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network via Learfield

Keys for Kansas

1. Dajuan to the rim

By now, it’s no real secret that the Jayhawks need and want point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. to score as much as possible night in and night out.

And here’s the kicker: They don’t really even care how he does it as long as he’s aggressive and looks to shoot the ball.

At first, it was KU coach Bill Self encouraging Harris to take three 3-pointers a game. Now, it’s KU encouraging its point guard to shoot as many times a game as he can, both to increase his chances of scoring and to force opposing defense to at least account for him.

Self doubled down on his desire to see Harris be a true factor on offense following last weekend’s 7-of-11 shooting effort which netted Harris 16 points in 34 minutes.

“He took shots. He was aggressive,” Self said after the win at OU. “He only took 11 shots, but for us to be good, he’s got to score. Today, he was pretty damn good offensively.”

There’s a growing belief inside the locker room that the days of having to beg Harris to be a threat on offense are nearing their end.

Said KU’s leading scorer, Jalen Wilson: “He’s shooting the ball well and if teams are going to sag in that pick-and-roll and he can get to that floater then we’re going to do that every single play. He’s so great in that area.”

Asked if Harris’ coaches and teammates would have to stay on him about it, Wilson smiled and said, “Nah, nah, nah. He’s good. He’s got it.”

Harris confirmed as much.

“Coach and them be saying it,” Harris said of the reminders. “My mindset has been trying to get downhill to score and make plays. My mindset right now is to score.”

2. It’s all new now

While there is a tendency for Big 12 coaches to look at the last meeting with an opponent when they prepare to face them for a second time, Self said that might not be the best approach in this one.

That’s because it’s been six weeks since OSU and KU met in the opening game of the Big 12 season on Dec. 31, 2022, and both teams have changed and grown since then.

“The thing that happens a lot when you play a team home-and-home every year, if you handle somebody easily at home and the next game is on the road, you don’t feel nearly as good,” said Self, noting that the opponent often is fueled by the revenge factor and the previous winner can be complacent. “Sometimes players go into (the rematch) thinking, ‘We’re way better.'” The way OU played at our place, our players (went into last Saturday’s game) thinking, ‘We got lucky. Now we’ve got to play our butts off here.’ Hopefully our players will have the same attitude against Oklahoma State because it was also a close game (the first time).”

One other factor in the rematch is the fact that the Cowboys will be without guard Avery Anderson III in this one. Although he scored just two points in the first meeting, he did play 32 minutes against the Jayhawks in December.

Anderson, who recently had wrist surgery, followed up the Big 12 opener by scoring in double figures in six of his next nine games while also recording three or more assists six times, including a stretch of two five-assist games and a nine-assist outing against Texas.

One OSU player who has stepped up in Anderson’s absence has been transfer John-Michael Wright, who was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week last week, after averaging 13.5 points and four rebounds per game while shooting 56.3% from the floor for the week.

3. Better starts still needed

The Jayhawks appeared to fix their slow-starting ways by being shot out of a cannon in recent home wins over Kansas State and Texas.

But the issues may not be all the way resolved.

Now the concern shifts to how the Jayhawks start games on the road.

They were pretty poor offensively in the opening minutes against Oklahoma but rode their defense to higher ground. And they were sloppy and sluggish the week before in a road loss at Iowa State that is firmly in the running for KU’s worst all-around performance of the season.

The Jayhawks have said for weeks that it’s energy that sparks their fast starts and a lack of it that has them stuck in the mud when things go wrong.

The fact that the Iowa State loss and recent win at Oklahoma were both early starts (11 a.m. and noon, respectively) may also have been a factor. So, it will be interesting to see if the late tipoff in this one will have the Jayhawks a little more juiced when they hit the floor for the jump ball to open the game.

Marquee Matchup

KU big men KJ Adams and Ernest Udeh Jr. vs. OSU bigs Moussa Cisse and Kalib Boone

Now that KU big man Ernest Udeh Jr. is on an upward trajectory, it’s not unreasonable to expect to be able to count on him when the matchup calls for it. This could be one of those games.

For the second time this season, Self said Oklahoma State features the best defense in the Big 12 and big men Cisse and Boone are a big part of the reason for that.

Both are long and athletic around the rim, making finishing in tight and getting on the glass difficult for their opponents.

Udeh has been able to do both of those things lately simply because of his own length and athleticism, but also because he has played at a turned-up level that has unlocked some real production.

KU was down to just eight scholarship players two games ago and nine at Oklahoma, increasing the need to rely on Udeh.

He and KJ Adams will have to be active on the glass and in challenging the Oklahoma State big men in a smart and sensible manner. If they’re not, Cisse and Boone have the potential to dominate the game, especially if the Jayhawks aren’t hitting from the outside.

Jayhawk Pulse

Kansas caught a pretty nice break over the weekend, with the Jayhawks winning at Oklahoma — road wins in the Big 12 are never worth taking for granted — and two of the teams KU was tied with in the Big 12 standings falling.

That left Kansas and Baylor one game back of Texas in the Big 12 standings with six games still to play.

Given the fact that the Cowboys are one of the hottest teams in the league right now, this game is as big as it gets for the Jayhawks for their Big 12 title hopes. Sure, the home game against Baylor this weekend is big and the regular season finale at Texas looms large, as well. But neither of those will matter quite as much if Kansas doesn’t take care of business leading up to those battles.

Back up to No. 5 in the national rankings — KU has been in the top 10 all season despite the ups and downs along the way — Kansas remains in position to challenge for the Big 12 title and is still in play for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in March.

Oklahoma State jumped into the AP poll picture this week as the sixth-highest team receiving votes but not in the Top 25.

The Jayhawks have won four of five since their three-game losing skid in the middle of conference play, with two of those four wins coming over top-10 teams.

KU leads the all-time series with OSU 122-60. The Jayhawks have won four in a row over the Cowboys and nine of the last 10. But Gallagher-Iba Arena historically has been one of the toughest places in the Big 12 for KU to play. The Jayhawks hold a slim, 37-36 over OSU in the all-time series at GIA after winning three of the last four games there.

KenPom lists KU as a one-point favorite in this one, with a predicted score of 69-68 in favor of Kansas and a win probability rate of 50% for both sides.

Probable Starters

No. 5 Kansas

G – Dajuan Harris Jr., 6-1, 175, Jr.

G – Kevin McCullar Jr., 6-6, 210, Sr.

G – Gradey Dick, 6-8, 205, Fr.

F – Jalen Wilson, 6-8, 225, Jr.

F – KJ Adams, 6-7, 225, Soph.

Oklahoma State

G – John-Michael Wright, 6-1, 190, Sr.

G – Caleb Asberry, 6-3, 165, Sr.

G – Bryce Thompson, 6-6, 194, Jr.

F – Kalib Boone, 6-9, 198, Sr.

F – Woody Newton, 6-9, 195, Jr.