NCAA Basketball: Buy or Sell Gonzaga, Houston, Kansas, Purdue, Tennessee and Clemson?

#3 Kansas: 65-50 loss at UCF

It seemed as if Kansas was going to run away from UCF, getting out to a 16-point lead and scoring every bucket in transition late in the first half.

After taking that 35-19 lead, the Jayhawks were outscored 46-25 the rest of the way, ultimately falling 65-60 to a team that was projected last in the 2023 Big 12 Preseason Poll.

Although it technically qualifies on the verge of a Q1/Q2 loss for the Jayhawks, this is not a game you want to drop – especially when holding a double-digit lead late in the first half.

The problem for Bill Self’s squad is that nobody stepped up. Dickinson, for example, was held to just 12 points and four rebounds on the night – numbers far from his average (18.9 PPG and 11.9 RPG).

Level of concern: 8.5/10

There is an alarming level of concern in Lawrence, Kansas. Despite owning strong wins over Tennessee, UConn and Kentucky, the Jayhawks struggled in games against Eastern Illinois, Yale and Missouri and needed a controversial call over TCU to get the win just last Saturday.

They have seemingly been playing with fire all year and it caught up to them in Orlando.

Although I would like to believe that this is a wake-up call, the metrics seem to state otherwise, as Kansas sits at 19th in KenPom, 22nd in BartTorvik and 17th in the NET.

Largely attributed to their lack of depth, it’s at the point of the season where that will not change. What the Jayhawks have is what the Jayhawks have and I can't foresee Nick Timberlake, for example, turning on the jets in the second half of the season.

No doubt, the Jayhawks have one of the most talented starting fives in the country. But given their lagging metrics and lack of depth, the level of concern rate is alarming as Kansas looks to right the ship against Oklahoma on Saturday.