A frustrated Bill Self leaves the court following the Jayhawks’ 78-73 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday, March 1, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

The Kansas men’s basketball team had two opportunities to tie the game against Texas Tech or at least draw within a point in the final 30 seconds on Saturday night.

First, point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. threw the ball out of bounds 11 seconds into the shot clock, angling out toward the perimeter as center Hunter Dickinson cut inside away from the ball.

Dickinson tried to accept blame for leaving Harris “out on an island,” but KU coach Bill Self said the play was designed to give guard Zeke Mayo a couple of opportunities off screens for a 3-pointer, and for Mayo to dump it off to Dickinson if needed. Instead, Harris bypassed Mayo and went straight to Dickinson, who might have had a step on reserve big man Federiko Federiko.

“Juan saw it differently than what we had called, just because of the way they were playing,” Self said. “You know, that happens.”

Then, after KU forced a turnover on the baseline, Mayo forced up a contested 3 even as the Jayhawks had 11 seconds remaining to try to get another look, after Tech had successfully defended an attempt by Harris to get the ball to Rylan Griffen in the corner.

“I forgot that they were going to use their guy defending the inbounder to take away the corner,” Dickinson said. “I think we should have tried to not throw it there. He came off open, we just didn’t get a good look at the end. I think we might have rushed a little bit.”

Mayo’s unwarrantedly desperate shot sailed harmlessly out of bounds, much like Harris’ pass before it, and those went down as the lasting images of another home loss for the Jayhawks, this one 78-73 to the Red Raiders. It halted the renewed enthusiasm of their so-called “new season.”

The Jayhawks must expunge the loss from their minds quickly as they travel to Houston to face one of the best teams in the country, Monday at the Fertitta Center, a place where KU lost by 30 last season.

“It would be foolish of us to try to lament on this loss, because in 48 hours we got to go play a top, at least, five team in the country on the road for their senior night,” Dickinson said. “And so if we’re not ready for that, it could be very similar to last year.”

“That’s just the blessing and curse of this league,” forward KJ Adams added. “You lose to a top-10 team and then in two days you get to play again … Got to have a lot of short memories playing in this league and try to build momentum when you have games like these.”

The Jayhawks also would do well not to dwell on memories of their last meeting with Houston, another game in which they executed inexplicably poorly in a series of key moments and lost at home, 92-86 in double overtime on Jan. 25.

“It’d be a challenge playing them on any night,” Self said. “Probably the tougher challenge is getting these guys back up and knowing they got a hard game in 48 hours.”

In that meeting in Lawrence, KU successfully limited Houston’s hot-shooting guards L.J. Cryer (their leading scorer in league play) and Emanuel Sharp for 50 minutes, but gave up a critical 24 points and nine rebounds to J’Wan Roberts, as well as 18 to reserve guard Mylik Wilson.

The Cougars, known for their relentless defense, have continued their dominance in league play, already having clinched an outright regular-season Big 12 title as of Saturday.

They have lost just once since the month of November, an 82-81 overtime defeat on their home floor to Texas Tech, and since meeting KU in January have also picked up key wins on the road at Arizona, at home against Iowa State and at Tech.

Most recently, on Saturday evening, they staved off Cincinnati for a 73-64 victory at the Fertitta Center, as Cryer led the way with 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting and Terrance Arceneaux added 10 off the bench.

“Can we go beat Houston? Yes,” Self said. “Now, is it going to take an unbelievable effort? Yes. But that’s the way it should be if you’re playing one of the best teams in the country.”

Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on Monday night.