No. 17 Kansas ends No. 2 Baylor’s perfect start with 71-58 win
LAWRENCE, Kan. — After its record streak in the Top 25 came to an end, Kansas spent the past three weeks quietly getting better, ripping off five consecutive wins before taking No. 14 Texas to overtime in a close loss on the road.
Baylor spent most of that same stretch mired in a COVID-19 shutdown.
So when No. 17 Kansas walked into Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday, it had reason to be confident it could end the Bears’ perfect start. And by the time David McCormack finished pouring in 20 points, and Marcus Garrett added 14 on his senior night, the Jayhawks walked out with a 7158 victory that left No. 1 Gonzaga as the nation’s only undefeated team.
“We had three weeks where they got worse and they had three weeks where they got better,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team led Kansas wire-to-wire in a 7769 victory last month in Waco, Texas. “Even Superman has kryptonite and I guess COVID protocols are ours.”
Kansas (18-8, 12-6) had something to do with it, too.
The Jayhawks held the nation’s top 3-point shooting team to 6 of 26 from beyond the arc. They had a 48-28 advantage on the boards. They forced Baylor (18-1, 11-1) into early foul trouble and proceeded to go 18 of 26 from the foul line.
They also made sure Baylor would need to wait at least a few more days to clinch its first conference title since 1950.
“There were a lot of naysayers saying whatever they would like,” said McCormack, who fouled out in the final minutes. “We had our ebbs and flows, but we’re continuing to rise, and we’re going to continue to rise into March.”
MaCio Teague scored 18 points and Davion Mitchell added 13 for the Bears, but leading scorer Jared Butler was 2 of 9 from the field and managed just five points while Garrett — one of the nation’s best defenders — hounded him all night.
The result was just the Bears’ second loss in 12 games against ranked opponents over the past two years, and an end to the best start in school history — though one that still has them positioned for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s a huge win for us. It’s not going to get you a ring on your finger or anything like that, but it’s a big win,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We could have easily won in Austin and really finished strong, but I’m really happy with the way we played.”