Kansas players huddle up during a timeout in the second half against Kansas State on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025 at Bramlage Coliseum. Photo by Nick Krug

Manhattan — The recurring issue of a lack of early-game energy sank the Kansas men’s basketball team once again in Saturday’s loss to Kansas State, as the Jayhawks lacked the defensive intensity that had just five days earlier pushed them to a big win over Iowa State.

Senior forward KJ Adams was as puzzled by the disparity between such performances as anyone, calling it “confusing.”

“If I knew, I think we’d be able to fix it,” Adams said. “We’re just coming out a little lackadaisical. We got to get guys going early, and when we do, got to (sustain) it for the rest of the game.”

The same team that opened a 14-0 lead against K-State on Jan. 18 gave up 22 points in the first 10 minutes on Saturday, just as the same team that didn’t allow any of Iowa State’s stars to score more than 11 apiece had given up 34 to one of UCF’s a week earlier. The time frame was condensed even further at Baylor on Feb. 1, when the Jayhawks limited the Bears to 21 points in one half and allowed them to explode for 60 in the next.

This inconsistency has been a key reason why KU, a team that looked at the start of Big 12 play to be building an identity about forcing lackluster play by opposing offenses, has now slumped to a 7-5 conference record with eight games to play.

“It’s been very difficult for us for whatever reason to string games of superb energy back to back, or even consistently at all,” KU coach Bill Self said. “You guys have seen this: There are times against elite teams we can lock anybody down, and there’s times that we can’t guard our shadow.”

Saturday’s game fell in the latter category. Of course it didn’t help the Jayhawks that point guard Dajuan Harris Jr., who had missed that poor defensive game against UCF altogether, also had to sit out much of the first half at Bramlage Coliseum due to three early fouls.

But by the end of the game they had allowed the rival Wildcats to shoot 50%, including 11-for-27 (40.7%) from deep, without doing much at all to disrupt K-State’s offensive flow. KSU also got a third of its buckets on layups.

The performance was particularly jarring because even a moderate defensive showing might have been sufficient for KU to make the game more competitive. The Jayhawks, too, shot 50%, and as Adams put it, it was the “best we’ve ever played in a while offensively.” Adams recorded his highest point total, 13, since Nov. 30, center Hunter Dickinson got no shortage of good looks and finished with a game-high 21, Zeke Mayo scored well in an away gym (albeit while struggling with turnovers) and even much-maligned AJ Storr had his moments. Self said he would have gladly accepted scoring 73 points at Bramlage if someone had offered him that option prior to the game.

It simply wasn’t enough on this occasion because of the team’s unexpectedly sloppy defense.

Self suggested that in order to have its high-effort play borne out on a more regular basis, KU needs to consistently apply the same approach to its practices, making it an “every-day attitude,” “because our practice is inconsistent as well when it comes to that also.”

“And we’re not talented enough that we can just show up and win off talent,” Self said. “We got to be turned up and have to play a certain way. Now when we do that, we can play with anybody and beat anybody, but when we don’t it drops quite a bit. Yesterday at practice the same message was sent and we played today, on that end, exactly like we practiced yesterday.”

The window for the Jayhawks to stack strong showings is dwindling, but KU does have a series of games against vulnerable foes approaching in which it can put itself on the right path, beginning with a home date on Tuesday against Colorado, which has lost all 12 of its conference games.

“If we can just get consistency these next six games, I think that would be very inspiring and very good for our hopes in the tournament,” Dickinson said. “Because in the tournament, you got to string together six straight games of consistent effort and consistent play to be able to win a national championship. One bad game can kind of end your season at any point.”