All season long, the play of Kansas forward Cliff Alexander has been a divisive topic among hoopheads. His tempo-based stats paint the picture of a dynamic, impactful big man on a team that has struggled to find a solution on both ends, yet he’s been benched for mental lapses and early foul trouble that indicaes a tough-love approach from Bill Self. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, it’s tough to argue that Alexander’s presence would have been helpful for Kansas in today’s match-up against a big Texas team, but the Jayhawks were dealt a blow when the NCAA reportedly brought a potential eligibility issue to Kansas’ attention, essentially forcing the team to bench the freshman for today’s game against the Longhorns.

The oft-criticized Cliff Alexander played well against Texas last month, but will sit out today’s rematch. (AP Photo/Michael Thomas)

In the short term, the Jayhawks are likely to miss Alexander against a team that thrives on its rebounding and shot-blocking ability. While Landen Lucas and Jamari Traylor have received the lion’s share of minutes alongside Perry Ellis, they could be overpowered against Texas’ vaunted front line. It’s certainly worth pointing out that in the first match-up between these teams on January 24, Alexander posted perhaps his best line of the season (15 points, nine rebounds and zero turnovers in 27 minutes) while Traylor scored just two points and grabbed four rebounds in 20 minutes and Lucas didn’t see any action. While it remains a fool’s errand to bet against the Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse, Lucas, Traylor and seldom-used Hunter Mickelson will have to step up in order to neutralize Texas’ frontcourt attack.

In the long term, the big question surrounding Alexander’s absence is whether the NCAA issue at the heart of the matter is significant enough to force Kansas to play without his services for an extended period of time. We’ve discussed the potential impact against Texas, but the Jayhawks will also welcome West Virginia, the Big 12’s second-best offensive rebounding team in the country, to Lawrence on Tuesday. On Saturday, they’ll travel to Norman to play an Oklahoma team that fields the league’s second-best two-point shooting attack and represents the biggest threat to Kansas’ regular season championship streak. Whether you think of Alexander as a one-and-done talent or whether you think the kind of seasoning he needs requires a stay in Lawrence beyond this season, the Jayhawks will be significantly challenged in the paint without his availability.

Brian Goodman (987 Posts)

Brian Goodman a Big 12 microsite writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BSGoodman.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 28th, 2015 at 3:56 pm by Brian Goodman and is filed under big 12, microsites. Tagged: bill self, Cliff Alexander, feature, kansas, texas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.