Bears stomp Jayhawks 80-64

Outside of approximately a 10-minute stretch in the second half, Kansas was thoroughly dominated by Baylor in Waco, putting a serious dent in KU’s quest for 14-straight conference titles.

KU scored just 0.67 points per possession in the first half (note: that’s bad) en route to a 30-20 halftime deficit. In fact, KU had more turnovers in the first half (9) than field goals made (7).

A run in the second half brought the Jayhawks to within two points at 58-56, but back-to-back threes by Manu Lecomte gave Baylor a comfortable margin once again, and the Bears ran away from the Jayhawks to the 80-64 final.

Personally, I did not get to watch the this game, so all I can go off of are the box score and other recaps.

First thing to note: It’s really hard to win a game when at least two of your five starters are off. Malik Newman and Svi Mykhailiuk combined to shoot 2-16 from three today.

Secondly, both of KU’s bigs, Udoka Azubuike and Mitch Lightfoot, were in foul trouble pretty much from the get-go, and played a combined 41 minutes. That’s, uh, not good either.

Thirdly, effort may have been an issue yet again, with Bill Self caught yelling at Devonte Graham, “Are you kidding me? Try!”

I’m not really sure what else to say. This was a bad loss on the road to an average team who at one point had lost six of seven games this season. Kansas is not a Top-10 team and probably isn’t a Top-20 team this year. If KU wins out (or gets a lot of help along the way), the Jayhawks can still get #14, but with this loss and Tech’s win in Manhattan, the likelihood of that happening has taken a drastic hit.

Up next, KU will travel to Ames to take on Iowa State on Tuesday, Feb 13, at 6 PM Jayhawk time.