LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball coach Bill Self thought at one point the Jayhawks’ win earlier this month, at home against Baylor, was the moment they became a team.

Kansas won 64-61 inside Allen Fieldhouse, in a game it led by as many as 13 points. It captured that victory against the No. 13 Bears without graduate senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr., a potential All-American. But just a couple of days later, with McCullar out again, the Jayhawks suffered a lopsided defeat on the road against Texas Tech that changed Self’s mind.

Self, though, noted Thursday he thinks that pivotal moment is still going to happen — hopefully sooner rather than later. It’s something he said the team has talked about. And on Saturday, when No. 7 Kansas is on the road facing tied-for-No. 21 Oklahoma in a Big 12 Conference matchup, the Jayhawks will have another opportunity to make it happen.

Here are a few more things to think about ahead of the 3 p.m. (CT)-scheduled tip-off inside the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma:

Kansas has routinely struggled on the road during Big 12 play

Heading into this matchup, Kansas is 2-5 in road games this season. That includes a 1-5 mark on the road during Big 12 play. For Jayhawks (19-6, 7-5 in Big 12) senior center Hunter Dickinson, the challenge to winning Saturday against Oklahoma (18-7, 6-6 in Big 12) is clear.

“I think just locking in more defensively, especially at the beginning of the game, and really just trying to make that something we can lay our hat on,” Dickinson said. “I think just trying to make the other team play worse than us, defensively just trying to really lock in and really guard. I think we did that the first time against Oklahoma and I think that was the main reason why we were successful.”

RELATED: Kansas basketball suffers lopsided defeat on road in Big 12 Conference play at Texas Tech

Kansas can’t afford to lose too many more Big 12 games

Kansas isn’t entering the weekend all that far behind No. 3 Houston (21-3, 8-3 in Big 12) or No. 10 Iowa State (19-5, 8-3 in Big 12) in the Big 12’s regular season standings. But there isn’t as much time to make up that kind of deficit as there used to be. It might be too soon to say the Jayhawks have to win out to have a chance to capture another Big 12 regular season crown, but it’s not as if they can afford to give those two programs or any others too many more chances to pull away.

Dickinson seemed to push back at the notion he and his team are looking at the rest of the regular season as if they have to win out. He instead said the better approach it to take things one game at a time. Kansas, he explained, is just going to try to go 1-0.

RELATED: Dominick Puni, Austin Booker to represent Kansas football at this year’s NFL combine

This is Kansas’ last game at Oklahoma with both teams in the Big 12

After this season, Oklahoma is going to make a move to the Southeastern Conference. So, just as the game earlier this season was the last time these two sides would meet in Lawrence as members of the Big 12, this upcoming game will be the last time these two sides meet in Norman as members of the Big 12.

Self highlighted the two programs have had some great battles in the past, especially when the Sooners had Buddy Hield. Self also praised the head coaches Oklahoma has had, including the Sooners’ current coach — Porter Moser. If Oklahoma wins Saturday, it’ll be Moser’s first victory against Kansas since he took over the Sooners’ program ahead of the 2021-22 season.

RELATED: Kansas basketball coach Bill Self ejected during Jayhawks’ Big 12 loss against Texas Tech

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Bill Self is still looking Kansas basketball's team-building moment