Kansas forward K.J. Adams Jr. (24) and Kansas guard Johnny Furphy (10) high five during a run by the Jayhawks against Kansas State in the first half on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Saturday’s Houston-Kansas clash to close the regular season still has some stakes, just not quite those that many envisioned when the Big 12 Conference pitted the two teams against each other back in September.

Houston, the No. 1 team in the nation, has already locked up at least a share of the league title in its first season since moving from the American Athletic Conference. The Cougars could have had sole possession of the title in hand, too, if BYU hadn’t blown a 14-point lead at Iowa State late Wednesday night; instead, Houston will need to beat Kansas to ensure the Cyclones don’t get any part of this year’s Big 12 crown.

As for No. 14 KU, it finds itself at the mercy of a slew of tiebreakers and other teams’ outcomes as it looks to improve its seeding for the conference tournament, but suffice it to say that in order to avoid playing in the second round in Kansas City (next Wednesday) it would like for Baylor to beat Texas Tech in Lubbock on Saturday. Not to mention that it needs to beat the top-ranked Cougars in their own building at 3 p.m. that day.

“They’re a complete team,” KU coach Bill Self said Thursday. “They got a nice squad. They’re a team that would be one of the favorites to win it all.”

KU is, of course, part of an exclusive club of three teams that have actually taken down Houston this year (which includes Iowa State and TCU, who were also both at home when they did so).

The problem for the Jayhawks is replicating their effort from Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 3, in which they shot 68.9% from the field, their highest single-game mark in 27 years, against the nation’s best defense and also outrebounded the Cougars 40-24 as a result. KU jumped out to an early 15-point lead before a jubilant crowd and weathered Houston’s one L.J. Cryer-inspired second-half run as it held conference player of the year candidate Jamal Shead to seven points on 2-for-9 shooting. Forward Ja’Vier Francis also missed most of the game due to injury as the Jayhawks won 78-65.

That is the only game the Cougars have lost in their last 14. Afterward, UH coach Kelvin Sampson said KU should never be an underdog in Allen Fieldhouse.

What about at the Fertitta Center?

As Houston has soared into the top spot in the AP poll, KU has slumped to its lowest ranking in three seasons with a 4-4 record since that Feb. 3 meeting. It does have a bit more momentum given its shellacking of rival Kansas State on Tuesday’s senior night.

“I feel like we’re getting there for sure,” freshman Jamari McDowell said. “I know it’s late in the season but this is when you really want it to click for real. So yeah, this is the perfect time for everything to kind of get to clicking.”

And while the Jayhawks are getting closer to healthy with Kevin McCullar Jr. back in the fold — even if he hasn’t been 100% and has at times visibly limped — the Cougars have taken some blows since early February. Reserves Joseph Tugler and Ramon Walker Jr. appear to be out for the season, joining Terrance Arceneaux. Francis played through a hurt ankle Wednesday at UCF, as did J’Wan Roberts through an injured hand.

It all has the Cougars looking very thin, and against the Knights their bench posted a KU-esque zero points in 29 combined minutes of action.

Their starting lineup, featuring guards Cryer, Shead and Emanuel Sharp and forwards Francis and Roberts, continues to excel, though, and can go head-to-head with any in the country.

“They’re ultra-talented,” Self said on his “Hawk Talk” radio show Wednesday. “Got great guard play, they’re big inside, their bigs can play, they’re extremely athletic, great rebounding team and they’re the best defensive team statistically in the country hands down.”

The Cougars have allowed 57.2 points per game on the year, which is indeed the top mark in Division I. Since the start of conference play they have forced 14.2 turnovers while committing a staggeringly low 8.1, and they also generate additional possessions via excellent offensive rebounding.

“Rebounding, poise, toughness” and knocking down shots will all be required, Self said, as KU faces UH in Houston for the first time since 1983. No one has beaten the Cougars there this year.

photo by: AP Photo/John Raoux

Houston guard Jamal Shead (1), guard Emanuel Sharp (21) and guard L.J. Cryer (4) celebrate the team’s win over Central Florida in an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in Orlando, Fla.

photo by: AP Photo/David J. Phillip

Houston’s Ja’Vier Francis (5) shoots as Texas’ Dillon Mitchell (23) defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Houston. Houston won 82-61.

photo by: AP Photo/John Raoux

Houston forward J’Wan Roberts, right, looks for a path to the basket against Central Florida forward Thierno Sylla during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in Orlando, Fla.

No. 1 Houston Cougars (27-3, 14-3 Big 12) vs. No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks (22-8, 10-7 Big 12)

• Fertitta Center, Houston, 3 p.m.

• Broadcast: ESPN

• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KKSW FM 105.9)

Keep an eye out

Explosiveness: A bizarre inability to make layups pervaded the Jayhawk squad against Kansas State — KU went 11-for-28 at the rim — but for McCullar, at least, it could be attributed to his ongoing recovery from a bone bruise to his knee. As Self put it Wednesday, “He has no explosion off his left leg and he’s a left-leg jumper. He’ll get it back but it’s just going to take time. He’s got to teach those quads to fire again.” Self said Thursday that McCullar tweaked his knee again versus K-State and he was hopeful that McCullar would be able to practice Friday.

Hot at the right time: The postseason legends of Remy Martin and Malik Newman were invoked on “Hawk Talk” as Self discussed the potential implications of a late surge by Nick Timberlake, who had a season-high 18 points against K-State and hit four 3-pointers in the second half. He suggested that even “a fraction” of those guards’ production could help KU transform its bench production down the stretch. Timberlake will have to develop a measure of consistency for the first time all season. Either way, Self praised his attitude throughout the year: “He’s tough, and he’s said many times, ‘Just wait, I know it’s coming. It’s about time.'”

Shades of last year: Backup center Parker Braun was not able to play meaningful minutes against K-State as he dealt with an ankle injury suffered at Baylor. That meant that 6-foot-7 KJ Adams took on the role of the undersized 5-man to spell Hunter Dickinson at times, which has been a rare sight this season after it was KU’s default lineup during the 2022-23 campaign. Braun said he was about 70% and needed to get to 90% or so for him and Self to be comfortable.

“Any type of height, any type of size, I think would be beneficial,” Self said Thursday of the Houston matchup, “especially since it’ll be a physical game and even with guys not getting into foul trouble, it’s going to be a game that it’d be hard for Hunt to play 40 minutes.”

Self said Braun is improving, but if he still can’t go Saturday, it could mean more of the small-ball look, which would be interesting against a team that doesn’t have a player over 6-foot-8 in its starting lineup or over 6-foot-9 in its rotation. The real question would be where rebounding would come from with Dickinson off the floor, as Adams doesn’t get many boards and Johnny Furphy might have trouble outmuscling the Houston big men.

Off-kilter observation

This game will serve as a homecoming of sorts for freshman guard Jamari McDowell, a Houston-area native who played just outside of town at Manvel High School.

“As of now, I only have four tickets so I don’t know what to tell everybody else,” he said Thursday. “I’ll try to figure something out, but right now, they got TVs.”

McDowell also said that he never got a scholarship offer from UH even though the coaches watched his team practice, and added, “I will forever remember that.”

Kansas guard Jamari McDowell (11) reacts to being called for a foul during the second half on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

photo by: AP Photo/Julio Cortez

Kansas’s Jamari McDowell, center right, shoots against Baylor’s Yves Missi (21) and Jalen Bridges (11), right, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, March 2, 2024, in Waco, Texas. Baylor won 82-74.