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Kansas’ offense tear hiding a defense that’s coasting

Kansas’ offense is on a tear the folks in Lawrence haven’t seen since Drew Gooden, Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich were on the same court.

In case you’re not up on your Jayhawks hoops history, that’s really, really good. Really.

The nation’s new No. 1 has scored at least 1.21 points per possession in seven of their last eight games (Texas being the lone hiccup) and in their last five. As C.J. Moore writes, only Marquette has come close to matching that kind of consecutive productivity in conference play. Xavier and Oakland had streaks of six straight with at least 1.20 points per trip, but both came early in the season.

Good thing, too. Kansas’ defense isn’t on quite the same level.

The Jayhawks still boast one of the nation’s most efficient defenses – sixth overall, according to kenpom.com – but it’s been right around average during Big 12 play. During the offensive tear, both Colorado and Missouri scored nearly 1.2 points per trip.

Part of that might be due to Kansas coasting during the second half of blowout wins, but a lot can be attributed to a few players getting roasted on the defensive end.

David Hess has been tracking individual defensive performances by the Jayhawks on his blog, The Audacity of Hoops. (You can read through all of Hess’ posts, or check out the compilation by Jesse Newell of the Lawrence Journal-World here.)

So here’s the question: When it comes to March, would you rather have a remarkably efficient offense and a good defense, or a remarkably efficient defense and a good offense?

Worst part is, unless Kansas and Texas meet up in the Big 12 tournament, we won’t know the answer until after everyone’s filled out a bracket.

Want more? I’m also on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC.