Jayhawks mount rally in second half
TOP 25
MEN NO. 5 KANSAS 87,
NO. 9 BAYLOR 71
LAWRENCE, Kan. — DaJuan Harris scored all 14 of his points in the second half as No. 5 Kansas stormed back from a double-digit halftime deficit and beat No. 9 Baylor 87-71 Saturday.
The Jayhawks (22-5, 10-4) outscored the Bears 55-26 in the second half.
“That’s Harris and (Kevin) McCullar,” Kansas Coach Bill Self said when asked to describe the turnaround in the second half. “The good looks (Baylor) got in the second half, they didn’t make them. In the first half, even when they got hard looks, they made them.
“Harris can make shots. He just doesn’t take a lot of them.”
Jalen Wilson led Kansas with 21 points and 13 rebounds. KJ Adams added 17 points and Gradey Dick had 16.
“We just had to gain composure,” Wilson said of the second-half surge. “It’s a long game, and we’re never going to quit.”
The Jayhawks are tied with Texas for the top spot in the Big 12 Conference. The Longhorns beat Oklahoma 85-83 in overtime earlier Saturday.
“You can now start talking about the conference race,” Self said. “There’s only four games left and we’re in a good position.”
Baylor is in sole possession of third place, a game behind Kansas and Texas and a game ahead of Kansas State and Iowa State.
“That’s a good game for the Big 12,” Baylor Coach Scott Drew said. “You saw what we were capable of in the first half and what Kansas is capable of in the second half.”
Baylor (20-7, 9-5) got nearly all of its scoring from its three-guard combo of Adam Flagler (22 points) Keyonte George (20 points) and LJ Cryer (15 points). The rest of the team combined to score just 14 points.
In other men’s Top 25 games Saturday, Brandon Miller scored 21 points, Nick Pringle had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Mark Sears made five three-pointers in the first half to lead No. 1 Alabama to a 10859 romp over Georgia. The Crimson Tide (23-4, 13-1) rebounded from their first SEC loss by racing to a 5425 halftime lead and made 16 of 34 3s (47.1%) en route to a season scoring high. It was tied for the third-largest margin in an SEC game for Alabama, though still behind a 57-pointer over Vanderbilt last month. … Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 20 points and No. 4 UCLA routed last-place California 78-43 to improve to 15-0 at Pauley Pavilion this season and extend the nation’s longest home winning streak to 23 games. … Sir’Jabari Rice scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and overtime, and No. 6 Texas held off Oklahoma 85-83. Rice’s fourth three-pointer of the game gave Texas an 84-77 lead with 2:26 left in overtime. … Cason Wallace and Oscar Tshiebwe each scored 16 points and Kentucky rushed to a big lead and beat No. 10 Tennessee 66-54. The Volunteers (20-7, 9-5) trailed by 20 points at halftime and lost in their first game since toppling No. 1 Alabama. The Wildcats (18-9, 9-5) earned their first regular-season sweep of Tennessee since the 201112 season. … Kihei Clark scored 15 points, including a pair of critical free throws with 22.6 seconds left, and became Virginia’s career assist leader in the No. 7 Cavaliers’ narrow 57-55 victory over Notre Dame. With Notre Dame closing to 55-54, Clark converted both ends of a one-and-one. Trey Wertz made the front end of a oneand-one with 3.9 seconds left for the Fighting Irish, but missed the second after a timeout. The ball was tipped out to Dane Goodwin for a potential game-winning three-pointer, but his shot bounced off the rim. … Oumar Ballo had 18 points and 16 rebounds, Cedric Henderson Jr. added 15 points and No. 8 Arizona dominated inside to beat Colorado, 78-68. … Markquis Nowell hit a three-pointer from near midcourt with 2:42 remaining to help No. 12 Kansas State over No. 19 Iowa State 61-55. Nowell finished with 20 points. Keyontae Johnson had 15 points for the Wildcats (20-7, 8-6). Aljaz Kunc led Iowa State (17-9, 8-6) with 15 points. … Drew Timme scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half and Julian Strawther added 28 points to help No. 13 Gonzaga extend its winning streak over Pepperdine to 45 games with a 97-88 victory. The Bulldogs (23-5, 12-2), who haven’t lost to Pepperdine (9-10, 2-12) since Jan. 18, 2002 and have won 20 in a row on the road against the Waves. … Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds, Jalen Hood Schifino made two free throws with 30.7 seconds left, and No. 14 Indiana rallied from a ninepoint second-half deficit to beat Illinois 71-68. Hood-Schifino had 13 points for the Hoosiers (19-8, 10-6). … Isaiah Wong scored 27 points and Nijel Pack finished with 24 in No. 15 Miami’s 96-87 win over Wake Forest. … Jack Nunge had 18 points and 10 rebounds as No. 16 Xavier bounced back from a pair of narrow losses to beat DePaul 82-68. The Musketeers (20-7, 12-4) reached the 20-win mark for the 34th time in school history. … Logan Johnson scored 27 points and Aidan Mahaney delivered once again in the second half to lead No. 17 Saint Mary’s to a 71-65 victory over BYU for the Gaels’ 15th win in 16 games. Mahaney scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half. The Gaels (24-5, 13-1) won their 16th consecutive conference home game to maintain a one-game lead over Gonzaga in the standings. … Arthur Kaluma hit three consecutive three-pointers down the stretch and No. 18 Creighton overcame a second-half scoring drought to pull away from St. John’s 77-67. … Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points and No. 20 UConn used a big second-half run to beat Seton Hall 64-55. Andre Jackson had a career high 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for UConn (20-7, 9-7). … Mike Miles Jr. had 15 points in his first game in three weeks and No. 22 TCU snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Oklahoma State 100-75. Emanuel Miller had 18 points to lead TCU (18-9, 7-7). … Ed Croswell scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and No. 24 Providence earned its 20th victory of the season, holding on for a 85-72 win over Villanova.
TOP 25 WOMEN
In games involving women’s Top 25 teams Saturday, Michigan State players wiped away tears as they stood shoulder to shoulder during a moment of silence before losing to No. 8 Maryland 66-61, less than a week after three students were killed in a shooting on campus. Diamond Miller scored 29 points and helped the Terrapins (22-5, 13-3) hold on for the win after leading by 16 points in the second half. … Lou Lopez Senechal scored 22 points, including a crucial rainbow jumper late in the fourth quarter, to lead No. 6 UConn to a 60-51 victory over Maddy Siegrist and No. 14 Villanova. Dorka Juhasz added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Aaliyah Edwards had 13 points and 14 boards for the Huskies (24-4, 16-1). Siegrist, the nation’s leading scorer, had 21 points for the Wildcats (23-5, 14-3). Villanova lost just its second contest in the last 16 — both to the Huskies. … Caitlin Clark scored 30 points, Monika Czinano added 20 and No. 7 Iowa pulled away in the second half for a 80-60 win over Nebraska.
The Hawkeyes (22-5, 14-2) moved a game behind Big Ten-leading Indiana with two regular-season games left.