It took a group effort, but No. 15 Baylor pulled off yet another huge Big 12 upset win on Saturday afternoon in Waco.
The Bears fended off No. 7 Kansas late to pick up a 82-74 win at Foster Pavilion.
Baylor took just a one point lead at halftime, but the Bears then surged ahead with a huge 13-3 run midway through the second half to finally pull ahead of the Jayhawks. Though Kansas rallied back multiple times, and the Jayhawks cut the deficit to just five points with 34 seconds left, it was too late. The Bears simply held on down the stretch to grab the eight-point win.
Hunter Dickinson led Kansas with 20 points and five rebounds while shooting 9-of-11 from the field. Kevin McCullar added 20 points, too, but went 0-of-5 from behind the arc. The Jayhawks shot just 4-of-12 from the 3-point line as a team. Kansas, now at 19-6 on the season, has lost two straight after dropping an eight-point game to BYU at home earlier this week.
Rayj Dennis led Baylor with 19 points and 10 assists. Jayden Nunn finished with 18 points, and Yves Messi finished with 17 points. The Bears shot nearly 56% from the field in the win, and out-rebounded Kansas by nine.
The Bears, after losing two straight games to ranked opponents, have now won back-to-back games with Saturday’s win — which is easily its best of the season. Baylor came just shy of knocking off Kansas in Lawrence last month, too.
While No. 1 Houston still leads the Big 12 and No. 8 Iowa State sits just a game behind the Cougars, Baylor now has the edge for the No. 3 seed in the conference — which should come in handy come conference tournament time in Kansas City later this month. Kansas will host Kansas State before traveling to No. 1 Houston next weekend. Baylor will host Texas and then close its regular season out at Texas Tech next Saturday.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
