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From the beginning of the game, you just had a feeling it was going down to the wire. The teams played neck-and-neck early on, with Kansas edging out to an early 17-12 lead. Baylor would come back, of course, and the first half looked to finish in a 33-all deadlock as Baylor inbounded from under KU's basket with less than two seconds left. A fullcourt heave and a turnaround jumper resulted in Rico Gathers' first-ever three point bucket, and Baylor took a 36-33 advantage into the break.
Second verse, same as the first. Well, kinda. Baylor worked their halftime lead up to 8 points at 47-39 with 13:48 left to play. Kansas battled back, however, and by the 10:21 mark the Jayhawks had re-taken the lead. From there, the teams would go back-and-forth until the final minutes.
A lob play by KU gave the Jayhawks a 60-57 lead with only 1:29 left. Baylor missed their next shot attempt, Kansas converted a layup, and the ballgame was essentially over.
Final score: Kansas 66, Baylor 60
Stats
Kansas closed out the game on a 13-5 run.
Frank Mason led all scorers with 19 points on 7/11 shooting from the field.
Ellis (15) and Graham (11) were the other Jayhawks scoring in double figures.
Ellis, Mason, and Selden each had 3 assists.
Selden had 3 turnovers.
Baylor outrebounded Kansas 28-25. Lucas led the Jayhawks with 10 boards.
As a team, Kansas hit 8/19 (42.1%) from behind the arc.
Baylor was 8/20 (40.0%) from behind the arc.
Kansas went 12/17 (70.6%) from the free throw line.
Baylor was 8/9 (88.9%) from the line.
Takeaways
Another tough win on the road.
Baylor gave Kansas all the Jayhawks could handle for the entire game.
This is a team that KU beat by 30 - albeit nearly two months ago.
Once Kansas finally got going in the second half, Baylor couldn't stop them.
With only three games left in conference play, Kansas only needs to win one more to clinch at least a tie for the regular-season championship.
Remaining games: vs Tech, @ Texas, vs Iowa State
Up Next
The Jayhawks come back home to host Texas Tech on Saturday, February 27 in Allen Fieldhouse. The game is scheduled for a 11 AM tip (Jayhawk time) and will be televised on ESPN.