Baylor emerges from Phog to beat Kansas
Baylor had spent more than five decades trying to win at Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
The Bears had blown big leads and been blown out. They took in championship teams riding high and limped away feeling low. Their sense of confidence and optimism always was replaced by more disappointment and heartache.
All those years of angst made Saturday feel so much sweeter.
With dominant guard play from Jared Butler and Macio Teague, a suffocating performance by the Big 12’s best defense and plenty of answers whenever Kansas tried to make a secondhalf run, the fourth-ranked Bears thumped the No. 3 Jayhawks 67-55 for their first win in 18 tries on the hallowed hardwood of the Phog.
“This year, you know, we came in with the expectation to win, the expectation to do great things,” said Butler, who finished with 22 points. “And it shows when you expect to win versus just trying to survive.”
Teague added 16 points and Freddie Gillespie had 13 points for the Bears (131, 3-0 Big 12), who snapped a whole slew of ignominious streaks with their victory in Lawrence. They beat a topfive team on the road for the first time in 22 attempts, won their fifth straight against a ranked team for the first time in school history and, perhaps most importantly, they beat Kansas (12-3, 2-1) in their personal house of horrors for the first time after playing their first game in the building in 1966.
The loss also ended the Jayhawks’ 28-game home winning streak, the thirdlongest in the nation.
NO. 2 DUKE 90, WAKE FOREST 59 >> Tre Jones scored 23 points to help Duke handle Wake Forest.
Cassius Stanley added 16 points for the Blue Devils (15-1, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who shot 53% from the field.
NO. 5 AUBURN 82, GEORGIA 60 >> Samir Doughty had 17 points and Auburn shot 53 percent in a victory over Georgia to preserve the Tigers’ perfect record.
The Tigers (15-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) surged with a 40-13 run after falling behind early to the Bulldogs (10-5, 0-2), a stretch that extended into the second half.
NO. 7 SAN DIEGO STATE 83, BOISE STATE 65 >> KJ Feagin scored 16 of his season-high 23 points in the first half and San Diego State played its best home game all year, opening with a 23-9 outburst and beating Boise State.
Yanni Wetzell added 20, Malachi Flynn 19 and Matt Mitchell 10 for the Aztecs (17-0, 6-0 Mountain West), who remained one of two unbeaten teams (Auburn). INDIANA 66, NO. 11 OHIO STATE 54 >> Devonte Green scored 19 points and Rob Phinisee added 13 in his first start of the season to help Indiana hold off Ohio State and send the Buckeyes to their fourth straight loss. NO. 13 LOUISVILLE 67, NOTRE DAME 64 >> Jordan Nwora led three Louisville players in double figures with 20 points as the Cardinals withstood a furious Notre Dame comeback in the second half.
NO. 14 KENTUCKY 76, ALABAMA 67 >> Immanuel Quickley scored the game’s final five points and finished with 19, Ashton Hagans had 15 with a big 3 late and the Wildcats topped Alabama for their 1,000th Southeastern Conference victory.
NO. 15 DAYTON 88, UMASS 60 >> Obi Toppin scored 16 points before leaving with an ankle injury early in the second half as Dayton got a scare while pulling away from Umass.
NO. 16 VILLANOVA 80, GEORGETOWN 66 >> Saddiq Bey gave the Wildcats and coach Jay Wright a glimpse of just how effective he can be from long range.
Bey hit eight 3-pointers and scored a careerhigh 33 points to lead Villanova past Georgetown in the Big East.
SYRACUSE 63, NO. 18 VIRGINIA 55 >> Buddy Boeheim scored nine of his 14 points in overtime and Syracuse outlasted Virginia. The Orange scored 20 points in the extra period after netting just 19 in the second half. NO. 17 WEST VIRGINIA 66, NO. 22 TEXAS TECH 54 >> Miles Mcbride scored a season-high 22 points, Oscar Tshiebwe added 17 rebounds and West Virginia beat Texas Tech.