WACO, Texas — The Large 12 convention schedule continued to battle laborious for Ninth-ranked Kansas on Monday night time, because the Jayhawks fell to Seventeenth-ranked Baylor, 75-69, within the Ferrell Heart.
The loss was the third in a row for the Jayhawks—all three ranked groups—who fell to 16-4 general and 5-3 in Large 12 play after profitable their first 5 convention schedule video games in dramatic, exhausting vogue.
KU misplaced its final three straight video games throughout the 2020-21 season, and fell in consecutive rounds to Oklahoma State, Baylor, and Oklahoma State that season.
“No person’s going to really feel sorry for us shedding thrice in a row,” KU’s Jalen Wilson mentioned after the loss. In order that’s all they need us to do is lose. We simply should discover a approach to recuperate and are available collectively extra.”
On reflection, though the Jayhawks pulled off hard-fought wins over Oklahoma State, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and Texas Tech earlier within the season, the shut nature of those video games could also be an indication of bother to return, and the Bears and TCU have been hit by the Horned Frogs. The Jayhawks have been like a freight practice these previous few days.
“This workforce did very well, however this workforce did very well and had some good luck doing very well,” KU coach Invoice Self mentioned earlier within the week.
Such good luck has been nowhere up to now three video games, and Monday night time was actually no completely different.
After a tough and slumping first half that featured every thing you might consider to go unsuitable, the Jayhawks performed their greatest 5 minutes of final week and took a one-point lead early within the second half.
The advance lasted precisely 52 seconds. Baylor (15-5, 5-3) and their dwelling crowd acquired up and responded with retaliation, and Kansas by no means acquired nearer than 5 factors over the last 12 minutes of the sport.
“This was a superb workforce from Baylor,” mentioned KU guard Kevin McCullar Jr. “It was one other Large 12 combat. It was undoubtedly a working recreation. We performed it to the wire and it simply did not work out in our favour.”
Self-added, “I did not suppose we performed badly, I did not suppose we bounced again properly.”
Whereas Baylor LJ Cryer and Adam Flagler collectively scored 39 factors on 7 of 20 3-point taking pictures, the Jayhawks have been over 17-8 on the offensive glass. Self mentioned these additional possibilities for the Bears, who solely shot 37% on the night time however took 10 extra pictures than Kansas, performed an enormous position within the end result.
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Kansas Basketball at Baylor
He mentioned, “We simply did not put on basketball. You realize, if you swap that a lot and (you are) so younger, it’s best to have the ability to combat on the glass. … Their gamers have been higher offensively than we have been on particular person protection.”
For the sport, BU outscored Kansas 35-33.
The ultimate dagger—aside from chants of “overrated” from the BU crowd late on—got here when Baylor’s Jalen Bridges hit a dunking breakaway after Dajuan Harris turned in a transition that prevented KU from slicing right into a BU lead and placing the Bears as much as 70-61 with lower than Three minutes to play.
KU freshmen Grady Dick (24 factors) and Galen Wilson (23) led the Jayhawks in scoring Monday night time, with McColar including 14 factors.
However, once more, it was the Kansas protection and the Jayhawks’ incapability to cease collectively or make Baylor uncomfortable that led to the loss.
After scoring his first 3-point try of the sport, maybe signaling the tip coming from a mini-slump he’d endured just lately, Dick made his second foul with 16:49 to play within the first half and sat out the following seven:24 recreation of motion.
His triple pulled the Jayhawks inside two, at 5-3, however the Bears trailed 15-4 from there to take a 20-7 lead. The Jayhawks transformed it greater than 5 occasions within the first 5 minutes of the sport and likewise watched Baylor hit three of his first six 3-point makes an attempt constructing that lead.
For the sport, Baylor completed 9-of-30 from 3-point vary, which put him properly right into a warning of kinds Self mentioned after KU’s loss to TCU final Saturday, when he mentioned KU may come right down to Waco and play higher and nonetheless get beat as a result of Baylor hit a set of 3s.
That is precisely what occurred, with the Bears’ deep putts hitting the Jayhawks at each innings.
“Properly, it is a three-game profitable streak,” Self mentioned of watching the Jayhawks battle out of the gate. “Perhaps it is greater than that. I feel we will undoubtedly be higher on the sphere, however I will be sincere with you, the way in which Okay-State performed the primary 10 minutes, the way in which TCU performed the primary 10 minutes and the way in which they performed Baylor first 10 minutes, if we performed properly, we might nonetheless be behind. These three groups performed nice. I imply, Baylor made every thing they checked out first.”
After garnering first-place votes within the AP Ballot in consecutive weeks, Kansas has instantly discovered itself in a type of hurrays the place every thing they do appears powerful. Monday’s match had lots of these moments.
McColar mentioned: “If you’re digging your self a gap early on, it is undoubtedly laborious. You all the time wish to be the appropriate man. However you are going to should win video games like that over the lengthy haul, on this league and past in March Insanity. So we’re simply constructing on it. We’ll have a look.” on the tape and be taught from it and be prepared for the following tape.”
After Ernest Ode Jr. did an ideal job of guarding the quicker and extra assured BU guard Adam Flagler on the perimeter to pressure a go, Joe Yesofo blasted the rebound that got here primarily to him. The glide led to 2 free throws for the Bears, who have been up 27-16.
On the following two KU possessions, Udeh struggled to safe one other catch—whereas posting properly exterior the paint—and McColar could not discover anybody getting the ball into the underside of the KU basket. He ultimately acquired it however solely after Dick charged the ball up within the air to protect possession of the Jayhawks.
Few errors summed up KU’s struggles higher than a four-point miss on the sting halfway by way of the second half that will have pulled the Jayhawks inside 4.
All 4 errors—three by McColar and one by Adams—have been contested by Baylor defenders, however their significance was tremendously amplified when Langston Love transformed an outdated three-point play on the following finish, powering by way of Harris on the way in which to a basket.
That put the Bears again by 9 and erased every thing Kansas did properly to get the lead after trailing by seven (41-34) on the break.
“We had performed properly as much as that time. They ran proper after that and after that we simply could not catch up,” Self mentioned after the loss.
Later, after the Bears pushed their result in a dozen, Wilson and Harris missed three consecutive throws in surprising vogue, with Wilson’s foul penetrating from the backboard to the left of the rim and Harris failing to get it. to the sting.
After coming dwelling late Monday night time, the Jayhawks will spend the remainder of the week resting and regrouping for Saturday’s recreation at Kentucky in a battle between the 2 winningest packages in faculty basketball historical past that appears loads completely different right now than it did on the schedule when it opened. season.
“The nice factor is we can’t play once more till Saturday,” Wilson mentioned. “So we chill out somewhat bit, regroup somewhat bit and simply notice what we have to do higher.”
McCuller, when requested what comes subsequent, added: “Get again to work. That is all you are able to do. Brief-term reminiscence. That is what the self-coach preaches to us. We be taught from it. Have an ideal week of preparation and get on the market and compete.”
Saturday’s recreation in Lexington, Kentucky, is scheduled to be acquired at 7 p.m. on ESPN throughout the Large 12/SEC Problem.