Kansas loses back-to-back Big 12 games as No. 2 Baylor pulls away on Big Monday
Bill Self, whose Kansas Jayhawks had just lost back-to-back Big 12 Conference games for the first time since a three-game losing streak during the 2012-13 season, seemed a bit perplexed Monday night when asked what his team needs to do to defeat undefeated, No. 2-ranked Baylor in any future meetings this season.
“Let’s not get this too twisted. Baylor is better than us right now,” Self, KU’s 18th-year coach, said after the Bears’ 77-69 victory over the No. 9-ranked Jayhawks at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.
The Bears, who led by as many as 16 points in the first half and 13 at halftime, but just five points with 3:17 to play, improved to 13-0 overall and 6-0 in conference play compared to KU’s 10-4, 4-3 mark.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t beat anybody any night. Our margin for error isn’t what their margin for error is. They’ve got a really good basketball team and we’ve got a nice basketball team, a pretty good basketball team, but there’s more things that have to go right for us to beat somebody like Baylor or Gonzaga than what has to go right for them to beat us right now,” Self added.
Self — his Jayhawks lost to undefeated, No. 1 Gonzaga, 102-90, in the season opener on Nov. 26 in Fort Myers, Florida — went on to say it’d help if his team passed it better, rebounded it better, protected the ball better and held the Bears’ shooting percentage well below Monday’s mark of 53.8%
“It’ll be interesting to see how we can set our guys up to be in better position to win,” Self added of the regular-season rematch against the Bears set for Feb. 27 at Allen Fieldhouse.
Self wasn’t in any mood to predict which team would win a matchup between the Zags and Bears — “to be honest with you I could care less; they’re both really good,” Self said — but did indicate Gonzaga “probably beat us with all five of their guys and tonight … let’s give the guy credit, Butler did a lot of that on his own tonight.”
Baylor junior guard Jared Butler, who scored a career-high 31 points in a 78-70 loss to KU on March 9, 2019 in Allen Fieldhouse, scored 30 points Monday on 10-of-14 shooting. He was 7-of-9 from three and 3-of-3 from the line. He also had eight assists.
Butler had 17 points the first half as BU, which led, 39-23, with 3:18 left in the half, held a 41-28 advantage at the break.
“I’ll be honest, we played damn well the second half. I mean one guy beat us and he was great, but they made some shots,” said Self. The Jayhawks, who outscored the Bears, 41-36, the final half, cut the deficit to five points twice — 56-51 at 9:51 and 65-60 at 3:17.
“We made shots too the second half,” Self added. KU hit 57.7% of its attempts the final 20 minutes and was 5 of 10 from three. Christian Braun, who scored a team-leading 17 points, was 5-of-6 from three while Ochai Agbaji was 4-of-7 from three en route to 16 points.
“We played pretty well considering we put ourselves in a hole. We were down 16. They are a bad, bad team to play from behind because of the guards they have. You foul them they make all their free throws (12 of 13 to KU’s 9 of 12; BU hit 9 of 19 threes; KU 10 of 19). You can’t spot a team 13 points at halftime and expect to come back,” Self stated..
KU fell behind Oklahoma State by 16 points, then took the lead with 1:20 left before ultimately falling to the Cowboys, 75-70, in KU’s previous game last Tuesday in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Which brings us to KU’s current two-game losing streak. The Jayhawks, who have dropped three of five contests, last lost back-to-back games in January of 2019 (to Kentucky and Texas). In conference play, KU last lost consecutive games during the 2012-13 season when Oklahoma State defeated KU in Lawrence and TCU beat the Jayhawks in Fort Worth in February of 2013.
That actually turned into a three-game losing streak when Oklahoma defeated KU in Norman, giving KU its longest losing streak of any kind — league or otherwise — in the Self era.
KU at 4-3 is off to the worst start in league play through seven games since the 1988-89 season when KU was 3-4. KU opened the 2018-19 season 5-3 en route to a 12-6 league mark and third-place finish. KU was 5-3 in 2015-16 en route to a 15-3 record and league title. KU went 6-8 in the Big Eight in ’88-89, ultimately finishing sixth.
“I mean I try to think when we last lost two in a row — the Final Four team. We dropped two of those,” forward Mitch Lightfoot said, correctly recalling losses to Washington in Kansas City and Arizona State in Lawrence in December of 2017. He’d forgotten about the losses to Kentucky and Texas the ensuing season.
“That team responded well,” Lightfoot added of the 2018 Final Four squad. “This team also has some things going on that are trending in the right direction. We need to continue to have an uptick on defense and shooters hit shots. We’re getting closer,” Lightfoot added after scoring eight points with four rebounds in 17 minutes.
Guards MaCio Teague and Davion Mitchell had 13 and 10 points respectively for Baylor. Big men Mo Thamba and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua combined for 15 points and nine boards while forward Mark Vital contributed 10 boards and four points.
For KU, Jalen Wilson scored just four points with five boards. David McCormack scored six points and secured two boards, while Marcus Garrett scored nine points, with eight assists, three rebounds and five turnovers. Garrett left the game late with what Self thought was a case of the cramps in his left leg. Self said Garrett, who played 36 minutes, did not suffer an injury.
Notes
Junior wing Tyon Grant-Foster did not play, coach’s decision. ... the Bears remained a game ahead of Texas (11-2, 5-1), while KU joined a large group of three-loss teams (Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, West Virginia). … The Jayhawks players, In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, wore pregame shooting shirts with five different quotes by King on them. Each KU player chose a specific quote for his shooting shirt. KU’s coaches wore a patch honoring King, an initiative from the Big 12 Black Assistant Coaches Alliance. …In all, 2,300 fans attended the game. Baylor is allowing 25% of arena capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. … KU will next meet Oklahoma on Saturday, in Norman, Oklahoma.
This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 10:16 PM with the headline "Kansas loses back-to-back Big 12 games as No. 2 Baylor pulls away on Big Monday."
