Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Jayhawks mount rally in second half

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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.

Baylor shot 9 of 14 from three- point range in the first half and and 10 for 25 overall. Conversely, Kansas, which hit only 1 of 11 from beyond the arc in the first half finished 6 for 21 from long distance.

The Jayhawks scored the last three points of the first half and the first 10 of the second half to trim a 15- point deficit to 45- 42 with less than 2:30 gone in the second half.

“As good as we were in the first half, that’s how bad we were in the second half,” Drew said. “They just killed us in transition.”

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 108-59 romp over Georgia. The Crimson Tide (23-4, 131) rebounded from their first SEC loss by racing to a 54-25 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. … 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 2011-12 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 one-and-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 nine-point 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. … 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.

 ?? (AP/Colin E. Braley) ?? Kansas guard Dajuan Harris Jr. powered the Jayhawks with 14 second-half points as they rallied for an 87-71 victory over Baylor on Saturday in Lawrence, Kan.
(AP/Colin E. Braley) Kansas guard Dajuan Harris Jr. powered the Jayhawks with 14 second-half points as they rallied for an 87-71 victory over Baylor on Saturday in Lawrence, Kan.

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