Self assessment: Skidding No. 9 Kansas has little margin

By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer

Bill Self knows this isn’t the same Kansas team that won the national championship last season. But the coach hasn’t had to go through many stretches like this in his 20 seasons with the Jayhawks. Kansas has lost three games in a row for only the fourth time under Self. All of those losses were to ranked Big 12 opponents, with two on the road. The 16-4 Jayhawks play their SEC/Big 12 Challenge game Saturday at struggling Kentucky, which beat them 80-62 last year. They will be trying to avoid their first four-game losing streak since 1988-89. That was their first season under coach Roy Williams.