With less two minutes remaining in the first half Tuesday, Kansas basketball’s Shakeel Moore showed a much-needed level of energy.

The Jayhawks had a possession in which they nearly turned the ball over. A separate effort from Moore’s teammate, Dajuan Harris Jr., allowed the team to retain possession in a road matchup against BYU. And after Moore got the ball back after a scramble, he went and scored a layup while getting fouled.

The problem is, all that did was cut BYU's lead to 43-26 in a game the Cougars would win, 91-57. Moore also ended up missing the ensuing free throw.

And now a No. 25 Kansas team that made this road trip in search of answers to help propel this season forward is now on the brink of disaster.

“It was awful,” Kansas coach Bill Self said on the postgame show on the Varsity Network. “We’re all, obviously, embarrassed. We didn’t bring our game tonight. But I’ll give them credit, they could have beat anybody in the country tonight, they were great. But we didn’t put up any resistance and certainly we’ve got some things we’ve got to work through because we’re going backwards right now, and it needs to change and it’s got to change on a dime.”

How many times does it need to be said that Kansas (17-9, 8-7 in Big 12) entered this season as the No. 1 team in the nation? How many times does it need to be said that the Jayhawks were the favorite to win the Big 12 Conference? Too many times, and yet not enough, because KU is on its way to dropping out of the top 25 in a season in which many were likely surprised to ever see it drop out of the top 10.

Only one player outside of star center Hunter Dickinson finished in double figures scoring, and that player — guard David Coit — built his point total in moments when the game was already decided. The box score might not show much of a difference in points off of turnovers or second-chance points, but the game didn’t dictate that BYU needed to do much about that.

Kansas never led in this game, at all.

There is not another advantageous road trip left for the Jayhawks as they try to find their way. This trip was it, and the chance was squandered. Self knows it, too.

“We need to get away from each other, I’ll tell you that point-blank,” said Self, asked what the next couple of days will bring before a Saturday home game against Oklahoma State. “I thought this would be a great opportunity to be a team-bonding situation, but it hasn’t been. And it hasn’t been a good trip. And guys need to get home.”