Feb. 22, 2008

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Kansas is set to make a run for its fourth straight Big 12 title.

Following a well-deserved week off, the fourth-ranked Jayhawks look to shake off a couple of recent road losses when they return to the court Saturday at Oklahoma State.

Kansas (24-2, 9-2) hasn't played since defeating Colorado 69-45 last Saturday. The Jayhawks held the Buffaloes to an opponent season low in points and limited them to just 35.4 percent shooting.

Last Saturday's game was played in front of 200 former coaches and players as Kansas celebrated the school's 110-year-old basketball history. While the Jayhawks have not won a national championship since 1988, they have won the last three conference titles and seven of 11 since the Big 12 was formed in 1996-97.

"There's a lot of tradition here and now we have a chance to be a part of something great," said junior Mario Chalmers, who had a team-high 13 points against Colorado. "Hopefully, we can add to that tradition as a team."

Kansas is tied atop the Big 12 with Texas, and both schools are just a half-game ahead of third-place Kansas State. However, the Jayhawks have fallen to both the Longhorns and the Wildcats in two of their last three road games after starting the season 5-0 away from Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas hopes the extra time between games can help it avoid losing consecutive road contests for the first time since dropping three in a row Feb. 14-March 6, 2005.

"I like having the time off right now," Chalmers said. "I think it gives us time to get our legs back and get refocused."

Chalmers had seven points, six assists and six steals in Kansas' last game against Oklahoma State, an 87-57 home victory on Jan. 10, 2007. Jayhawks junior Brandon Rush led all scorers with 18 points in that game, while senior center Sasha Kaun added 16.

Kansas has won three straight over the Cowboys (13-12, 4-7) by an average of 15.3 points since a 78-75 loss in the 2005 conference tournament. The Jayhawks are holding Oklahoma State to just 36.0 percent shooting during the winning streak.

In Kansas' last trip to Stillwater on Feb. 13, 2006, the Jayhawks defeated the Cowboys 64-49.

Oklahoma State is proving to be tough to beat at home this season, though, going 11-2 at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Its only losses there came to then-No. 12 Texas and then-No. 18 Texas A&M.

"We know that Gallagher will be jumping for us," Jayhawks coach Bill Self said. "We get everyone's best shot and their best shot is pretty good."

The Cowboys have won three of their last four games, but like Kansas, they also have not played in a week. Last Saturday, Oklahoma State defeated the then-No. 16 Aggies 59-54 to snap an embarrassing 19-game skid away from home.

"I know that they were tired and our fans were tired of this losing streak on the road. It's a big burden to finally get behind us," coach Sean Sutton said.

Byron Eaton had 17 points, including two free throws with 9 seconds left, and has been leading the Cowboys the past few weeks. The 5-foot-11 point guard is averaging 18.3 points on 65.0 percent shooting in Oklahoma State's last three wins, compared to 9.5 points on 35.7 percent shooting in the school's last four losses.

"When he plays well our team plays well," Sutton said. "This the way I envisioned him playing when we recruited him."

The Cowboys are just 1-5 against ranked opponents this season, and have lost three straight home games against Top 25 teams since defeating then-No. 21 Texas 105-103 in a triple-overtime thriller on Jan. 16, 2007.