Ochai Agbaji returns to the lineup, helps Kansas Jayhawks roll past Baylor Bears
Ochai Agbaji was one of the first Kansas basketball players to stroll onto James Naismith court to fire up some mid-range jumpers about 90 minutes before the No. 10-ranked Jayhawks’ 83-59 rout of No. 8 Baylor on Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I think his presence gives everybody else confidence and allows them to have better games,” KU coach Bill Self said of senior guard Agbaji after the battle between the league’s first-place (19-3, 8-1 KU) and second-place (19-4, 7-3 Baylor) teams was won convincingly by the Jayhawks.
“I don’t think he probably had his best game, but 18 (points) and nine (rebounds) in 32 minutes is a pretty good stat line for I’m sure the leading candidate for player of the year,” Self added, applauding the stat line of the 6-foot-5 Oak Park High graduate.
Agbaji tied junior guard Christian Braun (18 points, 10 rebounds, three assists) for game-high scoring honors after Agbaji sat out several days after testing positive for COVID-19 (and experiencing symptoms) last weekend in the wake of KU’s 18-point home loss to Kentucky.
KU’s leading scorer was back in the gym on Thursday after missing the Jayhawks’ 70-61 victory over Iowa State on Tuesday night in Ames, Iowa. Coincidentally, Baylor’s leading scorer, LJ Cryer, missed Saturday’s KU game because of a foot injury.
“It’s great to have him back. Ochai is Ochai. He is going to play his butt off every night. We need him to be our best. To see him go out there and give us that after coming off five days is cool,” said KU forward Mitch Lightfoot, who scored eight points on 4-of-4 shooting with five boards and two blocks in 15 minutes. Starting power forward David McCormack hit 7 of 8 free throws (including two technical foul shots) and scored nine points with eight boards in 21 minutes.
Agbaji finished one of the most exciting plays of KU’s victory over the Bears, who fell to 1-18 all-time in Allen Fieldhouse.
Forward Jalen Wilson on the fastbreak caught a pass from Dajuan Harris (seven assists, three steals, two points, 29 minutes). Before sailing out of bounds under the goal, Wilson shoveled a pass to Agbaji in the corner. Agbaji swished that three-pointer on a day he canned 5 of 11 shots and was 2 of 6 on threes and 6 of 7 from the free-throw line.
“I realized I was going to end up going out of bounds,” said Wilson, who scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting with seven rebounds and four assists with two steals in 29 minutes. “The pass (from Harris) was too far. I knew Ochai was trailing. I trusted he’d be there (in corner). He caught it and made the shot.”
Agbaji said: “I ran to the corner, He (Wilson) made a crazy pass. After I got it, I said, ‘I have to shoot it.’ It was a great pass, a good play.”
Of his recent bout with COVID that ended with a negative test on Friday, Agbaji said: “I was taking (off several) days, then as we were testing, Thursday I started to get back in the gym (on own before practicing with team Friday) and work out there. It felt good out there. I didn’t feel I took a step back or anything. I felt I didn’t skip a beat.”
Agbaji credited his teammates for bouncing back from last Saturday’s blowout loss at home against Kentucky with a win without him in Ames.
“We were riding off that momentum these guys got Tuesday after that loss Saturday,” Agbaji said.
It wasn’t all about offense on Saturday, though the Jayhawks did click in hitting 51.6% of their shots from the field. It was about defense, too, as Baylor hit 29.6% of its shots (7 of 27 threes to KU’s 5 of 20). Guard James Akinjo was 0 for 11 and did not score in 25 minutes. Baylor was led by guard Adam Flagler’s 16 points on 6-of-15 shooting.
“He will not do that often, if ever again,” Self said of Akinjo not scoring. “He had to take hard shots. They (Harris and Joseph Yesufu) made him work. Our defense was as good as it’s been all year,” Self added.
Yesufu, who scored three points in 17 minutes, bumped knees with another player late in the game and hobbled off the court. Self said Yesufu was OK.
“I think it scared him a little bit,” Self said of Yesufu feeling as if his knee “popped out of place.”
“He told me he’s fine. I don’t think it’ll be an issue (moving forward).”
Nothing could spoil the mood of Self and the Jayhawks on Saturday, a week after the Kentucky blowout loss.
“If last Saturday somehow inspired us or lit a fire under us to maybe regroup or whatever so to speak, then I’m glad it happened,” Self said. “I love to win every game and play well every game. We played better last two games.”
Braun said the Kentucky blowout loss did indeed affect the Jayhawks.
“I saw something today we hadn’t lost two home games back-to-back in a long time (1988-89 season),” Braun said. “We all knew that. We don’t lose at home often, especially conference (games). We knew we had to win. It was a big game for the conference race.”
KU will next meet Texas at 8 p.m., Monday in Austin, Texas.
This story was originally published February 5, 2022 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Ochai Agbaji returns to the lineup, helps Kansas Jayhawks roll past Baylor Bears."
