Oklahoma State becomes first Big 12 team to sweep Kansas under Bill Self

One of the Big 12’s most ridiculous records is no more.

By now, most people are aware that Kansas has won 14 consecutive Big 12 regular season championships, the longest streak of conference titles in the history of Division I. A lesser known, but perhaps equally impressive Jayhawk streak, had been the fact that in 15 seasons as KU’s head coach, Bill Self had never been swept in the regular season by a conference opponent.

In the final game of Kansas’ 2017-18 regular season, that streak ended.

Oklahoma State, which stunned KU in Lawrence back on Feb. 3, did the deed again Saturday afternoon with an 82-64 thumping of the sixth-ranked Jayhawks. It was OSU’s fourth win in the last five years over Kansas inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Even with Kansas’ recent struggles in Stillwater considered, the manner in which Self’s streak of sweep avoidance came to a close is fairly staggering.

In an even stronger than usual season for the Big 12, Oklahoma State appears to be one of only two teams in the conference that definitively needs to win the conference tournament in order to make the NCAA tournament. That same Cowboys squad defeated the league’s outright regular season champions twice by a combined score of 166-143.

There’s also more than a hint of irony in Oklahoma State being the program to end one of Self’s most impressive records. The Kansas coach was a guard at OSU from 1981-85, averaging 6.3 points, 2.9 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game for his college career.

This year’s homecoming was especially unkind for Self, who appeared perturbed by the officiating all game long. He was issued a technical foul late in the second half.

Both Kansas and Oklahoma State now turn their full focus to next week’s Big 12 tournament in Kansas City. The Jayhawks will be the tournament’s No. 1 seed, while the Cowboys will be seeded eighth.