🏀 Jayhawks to Close Out Regular Season at No. 19 Oklahoma
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas Jayhawks close out the 2021-22 regular season on Saturday, March 5, with a visit to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the No. 19 Oklahoma Sooners. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on Bally Sports OK.
Oklahoma is the fourth consecutive ranked team that Kansas will face to close out the regular season. The Jayhawks are currently on a three-game slide, with each of its defeats coming against teams currently ranked in the Top 10 of the AP poll.
Kansas is coming off a 70-60 loss to No. 9/10 Texas on Senior Night at Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday, March 2. The Jayhawks, who won at Texas on Jan. 12, were unable to complete the season sweep of the Longhorns and moved to 19-8 on the year and 10-7 in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks are in the midst of a breakthrough season that has seen the largest single-season win improvement in program history. With 19 wins, Kansas has 12 more victories than it had during the 2020-21 season, topping the previous best improvement of 11 wins, which happened from 1976-77 to 1977-78.
The Jayhawks have several individuals in the mix for Big 12 postseason recognition. Junior forward Taiyanna Jackson is a candidate for both Big 12 Newcomer and Defensive Player of the Year after her first campaign in Lawrence. Jackson leads the league with 58 blocked shots, 3.4 per game, during Big 12 play and she’s 10th in the league with 1.6 steals per game. For the year, Jackson averages 9.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 1.7 steals per game.
With a team-leading 18 points against Texas on Wednesday, Kansas junior Holly Kersgieter climbed two spots to No. 27 on the Jayhawks’ all-time scoring list. She enters the OU game with 1,062 career points.
Oklahoma is currently 23-6 overall and tied for third in the Big 12 with a 12-5 record following a 79-76 victory at Oklahoma State on Wednesday, March 2, in Stillwater. The Sooners are currently ranked No. 19 in both the AP and the Coaches Poll this week. The Sooners are the highest-scoring team in the conference and ranked third nationally with an average of 84.4 points per game. OU’s Madi Williams (18.0 ppg) and Taylor Robertson (17.0 ppg) are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, in the Big 12 for scoring.
Up Next
The Jayhawks have secured the No. 5-seed for the upcoming 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship, which begins on Thursday, March 10 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas will face the No. 4 seed in the quarterfinal round at 11 a.m. CT on Friday, March 11.
