Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks still couldn’t find a way past Kelvin Sampson’s No. 3 Houston Cougars. On Monday, the Jayhawks fell 65-59 to Houston, marking their second loss of the 2024-25 season to the Cougars. Despite another setback, Self had high praise for his Houston counterpart, acknowledging Sampson’s success in building a dominant program both in the Big 12 and nationally.
“What he’s done in his time here is the best job, in my opinion, that anybody’s done in America in that period of time,” Self said during the postgame press conference following the Jayhawks’ 11th loss of the season (h/t Chris Baldwin of PaperCity Magazine).
With an 18-1 record in Big 12 play and just one game remaining in the regular season, Houston is on track to secure its second consecutive regular-season conference title. Last season, the Cougars went 15-3 against conference opponents, claiming the Big 12 regular-season crown in their very first year after transitioning from the American Athletic Conference.
Meanwhile, Kansas is looking to close out the regular season on a strong note, with the best possible outcome being a conference record two games above .500. The Jayhawks, now 19-11 overall and 10-9 in Big 12 play, will host the No. 24 Arizona Wildcats on Saturday in a crucial Quadrant 1 matchup.
