STILLWATER, Okla.— Two days after Missouri, one Big 12 season later, the Jayhawks have done it yet again. And now it’s outright and unquestionable.
“We got eight, baby,” junior forward Thomas Robinson said. “This one feels good, too.”
After Monday night’s 70-58 victory at Oklahoma State in Gallagher-Iba Arena, No. 3 Kansas (25-5, 15-2), claimed its eighth consecutive Big 12 title for good.
As Robinson spoke, senior guard Tyshawn Taylor took a hat off his head. He turned it around and read “8 STR8 champs,” running his fingers along the seams and smiling.
Taylor had reason to smile. He had conquered the conference that pundits said was never supposed to belong to the Jayhawks. As the season progressed, he decreased his turnovers and started scoring more. On Monday, he dropped 27 points on the Cowboys.
“Every time we came down and made a big play, Tyshawn would come down and hit a big shot,” Oklahoma State’s senior guard Keiton Page said.
On his senior day, Page scored 29 points and hit seven of his 14 three-point shots. At just five-foot-nine, which some call a generous listing, Page used deceptive dribbles and fakes to evade defenders. Taylor and Johnson often tightly guarded Page, but he still made shots.
“He can shoot the rock,” Taylor said. “If he gets any daylight, he’s putting it up and usually it’s good.”
“I’m glad he’s a senior,” coach Bill Self said.
Yet as Page and freshman guard Brian Williams continued to score, the rest of the Cowboys combined for 9 points and a 17.6 field goal percentage. Oklahoma State forwards and centers didn’t score a point.
The low-scoring affair suited the Jayhawks just fine after Saturday’s overtime victory against Missouri, which Self called “the most emotional regular season game ever.”
“We were gassed, but it wasn’t a fast-paced game,” Self said. “Fortunately for us, there weren’t a lot of possessions.”
Self said that with the quick turnaround, this game was one of the season’s greatest challenges. The Jayhawks had just 15 minutes of stationary shooting on Sunday, and a brief amount of time to warm up on Monday. The game wasn’t filled with energy, it was more a game to fight through and finish with a victory, style points be damned.
The Jayhawks did just that, and now they’ve got another conference title to show for it.
“You’re supposed to win at home when you have a crowd like we have,” Self said. “But for them to go 7-2 on the road, that’s pretty special.”