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Weekend Preview: If Kansas doesn’t get their act together, they’ll lose again

Elijah Johnson

Kansas guard Elijah Johnson celebrates after an NCAA college basketball game against Kansas State on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013, in Manhattan, Kan. Kansas won 59-55. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

AP

Who’s Getting Upset?: No. 5 Kansas at Oklahoma (4:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)

I may have written it 15 times this week, and all of you have probably figured it out by now, but Kansas is having some serious issues on the offensive end of the floor. They don’t have a point guard -- Elijah Johnson and Naadir Tharpe are shooting a combined 26.5% from the floor with 52 assists and 48 turnovers in Big 12 play -- and their most talented player is content to be a spot-up shooter the majority of the time. Throw in a crippling loss of confidence during Wednesday’s game with TCU, and what you get is Kansas posting one of the worst losses that we’ve seen in a long time.

So here we are two days later and we’re supposed to assume that the Jayhawks have gotten all of the kinks worked out?

We’re supposed to believe that, all of a sudden, Johnson and Tharpe are playing well and McLemore is taking the ball to the rim and the Jayhawks, as a whole, are not missing open threes any more?

The bottom-line is that the Sooners are a good basketball team. They have a versatile front line that can pull Jeff Withey away from the rim, they have a lock down defender in Buddy Hield and they have a star (Steven Pledger) surrounded by a combination of savvy veterans and talented freshmen. This is a good team that needs a big win that will be looking to capitalize on the struggles of the best team in the Big 12.

Who else is on Upset Alert?:


  • St. Mary’s at San Diego (11:00 p.m. ET, ESPNU): San Diego shot their way up my list of favorite teams to watch on Saturday night as the Toreros put up one heckuva fight against No. 6 Gonzaga at home. What’s so great about them? Well, for starters, their back court is awesome. Their leading scorer is a kid named simply Johnny Dee while their point guard stands all of 5-foot-7 but still manages to make shots like this.

  • No. 3 Michigan at Wisconsin (12:00 p.m. ET, ESPN): Wisconsin is tough to beat at home for a couple of reasons: the Kohl Center gets loud, the Badgers play better in the friendly confines of Madison, WI, and they just so happen to use Sterling basketballs, the only team to do so. It may not sound like much, but for a team that relies on shooting the three as much as Michigan does, that could end up being a huge difference. Well, that and the fact that Wisconsin is a good team that gets better at home.

  • No. 14 Butler at George Washington (2:00 p.m. ET): If George Washington is going to make some noise in the Atlantic 10 this season like they’re threatening too, this are the wins that they are going to need to get, especially considering just how brutal their season-ending stretch is.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.