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Should we be concerned No. 2 Kansas losing to Oklahoma State?

Markel Brown, Perry Ellis

Oklahoma State guard Markel Brown (22) blocks a shot by Kansas forward Perry Ellis (34) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lawrence, Kan., Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. Oklahoma State won 85-80. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

AP

If I’m a Kansas fan, I’m not all that concerned about their 85-80 loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon.

An 18-game winning streak and a No. 2 ranking (N0. 1 if you believe the coaches poll) aside, Kansas is not a perfect basketball team. No one in the country is a perfect basketball team this year. Right now, there is a lot of very good across the country, but there is no great.

Kansas falls under that title.

The Jayhawks have one of the best defenses in the country, anchored by a center that can effect a game on that side of the ball as much as any. But there are issues on the offensive side of the ball, ones that have been discussed ad nauseum this season.

Outside of Ben McLemore, there really isn’t anyone that is a major threat in half-court sets, and even McLemore is still battling with inconsistency in his aggressiveness. He’s the kind of player that lets the game come to him, and that can be a problem when you’re on a team that is relying on you to be the No. 1 option offensively.

The Jayhawks also have major question marks at the point guard spot. Elijah Johnson simply is not a player that can be trusted to run a team. He’s talented, he’s got the size that makes him a quality defender and he can create off the dribble, but he’s simply not an elite point guard. It’s fitting, really, that Kansas lost because Johnson was ripped by Smart with less that five seconds left down three.

But he is the Jayhawk’s best option right now at the point. Naadir Tharpe is more of a true point guard, but he’s also not ready to run a team on his own.

The irony here is that the question marks that were raised about Kansas over their last six games were on the offensive end of the floor. They were winning, but they were winning ugly, struggling to break 60 points against teams they should be blowing out because their defense was just that good.

On Saturday, that defense disappeared, as Markel Brown and Marcus Smart combined for 53 points, but the Jayhawks still managed to put up 80 points. Ben McLemore still finished with 23 points and took over for a stretch in the second half. And while I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Kansas played well on that end of the floor -- the bad turnovers they had against West Virginia showed up again -- but I think it’s actually a good sign that the Kansas offense actually kicked into a high-gear for a stretch on Saturday.

Rare is the day that their defense is so porous.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.