Kansas Basketball: Ranking Worst Regular-Season Losses Under Bill Self

The Jayhawks' home loss two weeks ago to Oklahoma State stung. Kansas does not lose at home under Bill Self.

Their unexplainable loss four days later to an anemic TCU team was horrifying. Kansas does not face losing streaks under Bill Self.

A third-straight loss to Oklahoma was weird.  Kansas has never lost three in a row under Bill Self.

Entering Wednesday's rematch in Stillwater, the Jayhawks have only lost 45 regular-season games in nearly 10 seasons under Self, but each one is over-magnified in Lawrence.

The ten worst regular-season losses of the Self era feature ugly shooting, blown leads and grossly inferior opponents.

10. December 19, 2011 vs. Davidson

An impressive double-digit victory over No. 2 Ohio State was followed by a perplexing loss to Davidson at the Sprint Center in mid-December.

The Wildcats did reach the NCAA tournament three months later as a No. 13 seed with a 25-7 record, but they plain embarrassed Kansas in their 80-74 win. 

Davidson, powered by Nik Cochran's 21 points, led for nearly the entire game and took advantage of poor free-throw (58 percent) and three-point shooting (6-for-23) to control the Jayhawks.

"They controlled the game," Bill Self said. "They whipped us."

9. February 15, 2004 at Nebraska

Nebraska had just finished losing six of seven before they welcomed the 14th-ranked Jayhawks to Lincoln, but had no problem blowing out KU by a score of 74-55.

The Huskers shot a season-high 56 percent the floor while holding Kansas to a season-low 36 percent, both of which appeared to come seemingly easy as KU was outscored by 20 in the second half.

While Nebraska was 14-6 at the time, they finished just 16-12 on the season and a paltry 6-10 in the Big 12, with their disposal of Wayne Simien, Keith Langford and company as the highlight of their year.

8. December 2, 2006 at DePaul

Winners of five straight, including an impressive victory over No. 1 Florida, Kansas was rolling before a second-half meltdown at DePaul.

The fifth-ranked Jayhawks conceded a 14-0 run in the waning minutes of the 64-57 loss as they allowed the Blue Demons to attempt 24 free throws in the second half alone.

KU could not defend DePaul, a sub-.500 and NIT-bound team, on the perimeter as they hit 7-of-15 three-pointers en route to the frustrating upset victory.

7. January 22, 2004 vs. Richmond

A demoralizing one-point home loss to Richmond was KU's third non-conference defeat under first-year coach BIll Self.

The loss snapped the Jayhawks' 52-game home winning streak over un-ranked opponents as point guard Aaron Miles botched a last-minute chance to increase their own one-point lead, leading to the game-winning jumper by Tony Dobbins.

The Spiders only shot 36 percent from the field but shut down the Kansas offense down the stretch, forcing 17 turnovers and blocking 10 shots in doing so. 

Richmond did squeak into the 2004 NCAA tournament as a No. 11 seed with a 20-12 record, but this 69-68 loss remained perplexing.

6. January 14, 2006 vs. Kansas State

Losses to the ugly rival 80 miles down I-70 are never pretty, nor accepted, with KU's 59-55 home defeat in January of 2006 as no exception.

The Jayhawks blew a 12-point second-half lead to a Kansas State team that finished 15-13 (6-10 Big 12) on the season.  It also snapped KU's 31-game win streak in the series.

Poor offensive possessions were followed by poor offensive possessions as Kansas shot 32 percent from the floor against an average Wildcats' defense, one that was blown out three days earlier at home against lowly Nebraska. 

The loss gave KU five total losses only four days into conference play.

5. December 13, 2008 vs. Massachusetts

The mass exodus of 2008 was followed by unclear expectations for the Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich-led Jayhawks, but you can bet the farm on a mid-December win over the lowly 2-6 Massachusetts Minutemen at the Sprint Center.

Instead, Kansas fell behind by 14 early en route to a one-point loss as they shot 34 percent from the field, including 5-for-23 from beyond the arc.  Collins was a pitiful 6-for-23 from the floor.

This UMass team crawled to a 12-18 record, losing to Green Bay, Toledo and Jacksonville State in process and was a glaring black eye on KU 2009 tourney resume.

4. December 6, 2005 vs. St. Joseph's

Kansas dominated an overmatched St. Joseph's team in November of 2004 at Allen Fieldhouse with a 40-point victory.  However, the Hawks returned the favor one year later in knocking the un-ranked Jayhawks under .500 three weeks into the 2005-06 season.

St. Joe's was headed to the NIT but capitalized on KU's appalling free-throw shooting (6-for-19) in claiming the 70-67 victory.

Chet Stachitas led the unexplainable upset at Madison Square Garden with six three-pointers and 27 points.

3. March 4, 2009 at Texas Tech

Who is Alan Voskuil and how did he manage to dismantle the No. 9 Jayhawks in the Red Raiders blowout victory?

The Texas Tech senior hit nine three-pointers in scoring a career-high 35 points on senior night.  His team, one that lost to the likes of Lamar, UTEP and TCU, dramatically snapped a six-game skid for only their third Big 12 victory.

Kansas shot 33 percent from the field, including 4-for-24 from three-point range as Sherron Collins could not buy in bucket (3-for-19 shooting).

How bad was it?

Conner Teahan, Brennan Bechard, Matt Kleinmann and Chase Buford all received garbage minutes that night.

2. November 15, 2006 vs. Oral Roberts

Bill Self was still looking for answers following the Bradley and Bucknell debacles the previous two seasons, but a visit from his old team did not help quiet the critics.

Oral Roberts defeated the No. 3 Jayhawks 78-71 at home after impressively holding off multiple KU rallies, largely due to Marchello Vealy's near-perfect 7-for-8 three-point shooting.

Kansas went 11-for-24 from the line, failed to capitalize on 17 offensive rebounds, committed 18 turnovers and saw Julian Wright botch wide-open layups on consecutive possessions in the second half.

1. February 6, 2013 at TCU

I think people are still waiting for Kansas to turn on the jets and blow away TCU, as they did for 39 minutes two weeks ago in Fort Worth.

In a widely-publicized statistic, Jerry Palm of CBS Sports noted this upset loss was the biggest difference in RPI in over 20 years as KU entered with the No. 7 RPI while TCU sat at No. 237.

The Jayhawks had six turnovers and no field goals seven minutes into the game as they crawled to a 13-point first half, the lowest total under Self and lowest ever for KU in a Big 12 game. Self's squad failed to shoot 30 percent for the game and hit only 14 percent of their three-point shots.

TCU entered the game ranked 300th or worse in scoring offense, assists per game and field-goal percentage amongst numerous other categories. 

It was, and will remain, the only conference victory for Trent Johnson's team this season, one that included a three-point win over Mississippi Valley State.