Kansas basketball guard Dajuan Harris notes up-and-down season, while stating a goal

Kansas senior Dajuan Harris on Monday was one of 10 college basketball players named a candidate for the 2024 Bob Cousy Award, which annually is presented by the Naismith Hall of Fame to the top point guard in the country.

“I feel happy about it, but I still haven’t been playing as the best player I could be,” Harris, a 6-foot-2 native of Columbia, Missouri, said Monday at a news conference held in advance of Tuesday night’s KU-Oklahoma State game.

Tipoff for the Big 12 battle between the No. 8-ranked Jayhawks (16-4, 4-3) and Cowboys (9-11, 1-6) is 8 p.m., with a live telecast on ESPN.

“The best is still yet to come. I’m ready for the best to come. I’ve got to continue to be ready to play my game and be ready to step up for my teammates,” Harris added.

Joining Harris on the Cousy list: Big 12 players Max Abmas (Texas) and Jamal Shead (Houston), plus Boo Buie (Northwestern), Tyler Kolek (Marquette), Tristen Newton (UConn), Jahvon Quinerly (Memphis), Isaiah Stevens (Colorado State), Wade Taylor (Texas A&M) and Zakai Zeigler (Tennessee).

Harris — he leads the Big 12 and ranks eighth nationally with 6.9 assists per game — is third in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.8. Overall he has 135 assists to 49 turnovers in 20 games. In Big 12 action he has dished 47 assists to 16 turnovers.

Also, Harris averages 7.2 points per contest, 7.7 points in league games. Harris leads the Jayhawks with 33 steals.

Harris is coming off Saturday’s 79-75 loss at Iowa State in which he had nine points on 4-of-6 shooting with seven assists, two turnovers and two steals in 38 minutes.

“To be honest, I feel like that was my second best game of the year,” said Harris. He had 23 points, seven assists and four turnovers in an 89-84 win over Kentucky on Nov. 14 in Chicago.

“Coach (Bill Self) told me it was a solid game. I agreed with him. I don’t think I have played, showed my best game yet, besides Kentucky. It was my last game I played well. I think my best is yet to come,” Harris added, repeating an earlier thought.

Of Harris’ performance against the Cyclones, Self said: “I do think Juan had one of his better games in Ames. I thought he was better and played well. I was happy for Juan (making the Cousy list).”

Harris on Tuesday faces an OSU team that KU defeated 90-66 on Jan. 16 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Harris had 11 points, three assists, three steals and one turnover while playing 31 minutes that evening.

OSU guard Bryce Thompson, who played at KU his freshman season prior to transferring, scored 20 points, while guard Javon Small, who normally leads OSU in scoring, had two points on 1-of-10 shooting with seven assists and five turnovers against the Jayhawks.

“Be patient, don’t try to force a lot of things. I think I’ve been forcing a lot of stuff, like a lot of turnovers, things I usually haven’t been doing,” Harris said, listing some goals for the future.

“I’ve got to be patient running the offense, just staying focused. I play a lot of minutes. I’ve got to be on point every possession. The schedule, the teams we’re playing, they are going to play their best games against us. I’ve got to be ready for anything, help my team be prepared for anything.”

KU on Tuesday night faces the challenge of playing a team twice in a 14-day span. OSU on Saturday defeated West Virginia 70-66 in Stillwater for its first conference win in the 2023-24 season.

“I wish the schedule wasn’t like that, but I know it’s computerized and may always be that way,” Self said, noting KU plays Texas on Feb. 24 in the only regular-season meeting between the teams this season, yet before that game will have played OSU and Oklahoma twice.

“I think it’s a little quick on the turnaround, but there are some positives to it, too, for both teams. You only have to scout the three games in between for both teams as opposed to seven in between. You could look at that as a positive.”

Since playing KU, OSU has lost to Kansas State and TCU and defeated WVU. KU since that game has lost at Iowa State and West Virginia and defeated Cincinnati..

“Oklahoma State is going to be a tough one. They are coming off a big win,” Harris said. “They finally got their win in. We play Houston Saturday (3 p.m., at Allen). We have to come in tomorrow, try to get that win then go from there.”