KU basketball to take on undefeated Baylor, which has won 11 games by double-digits
Baylor, a Big 12 men’s basketball team with a bunch of blowout victories, will play host to Kansas, a squad with an inordinate amount of wins in close games, at 8 p.m. Monday at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.
The Bears (12-0, 5-0), who were ranked No. 2 in the country in last week’s AP poll, have rolled to 11 double-digit wins in 12 games, the only single-digit victory Saturday’s 68-60 decision over Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas.
KU (10-3, 4-2), ranked No. 6 in last week’s poll, has claimed a 5-1 record in games decided by five points or less — the only loss a 75-70 decision Tuesday at Oklahoma State.
“I think our program thrives on winning, taking care of business. When it comes down to the time — bright lights, one-point game — that’s when we come out the most and really show who we are,” KU freshman wing Jalen Wilson said recently when asked to explain KU’s success in close games.
The Jayhawks are 28-7 (.800) in games decided by five points or less since the beginning of the 2017-18 season, KU was 11-2 in such games in 2017-18, 8-2 in 2018-19, 4-2 last season and 5-1 this season. Since 2010-11, KU is 67-25 (.728) in games decided by five points or less.
“Our preparation in practice … we do a lot of situational stuff going through different things,” Wilson said of late-game situations. “Another thing is how focused we are in the game, how much we want to win.”
Baylor, which is led by guards Jared Butler (15.6 points per game), MaCio Teague (15.3), Davion Mitchell (12.1) and Adam Flagler (10.6), has also been winning, but in a more dominant way most nights.
“Baylor to me has been the best team so far and most impressive (in Big 12),” KU coach Bill Self said recently. The Bears lead runner-up Texas by a game in the loss column and KU by two in the standings. “I’m not sure with the other teams you couldn’t just flip flop them and anybody could be ranked anywhere. It’s a monster of a league. Baylor is not going to lose often, we know that.”
KU’s coach obviously would accept any type of victory Monday, close or otherwise, as the Jayhawks either prevail or fall three games behind the Bears in the league standings.
“I know when you play a lot of close games you are messing with fire,” Self said recently. “You play a close game, a team takes a bad shot and it goes in, you take a good shot that doesn’t go in and game over. It doesn’t always play the percentages right, where the team that plays the best down the stretch actually wins,” Self added.
KU on Tuesday at OSU erased a 16-point deficit to grab a three-point lead with 1:20 left, only to ultimately drop its first close game of the season.
“We’ve been, knock on wood, pretty good so far in one or two possession games,” Self said. “I do think it gives you confidence. I don’t think you want to play too many of them.”
Self recalled a conversation about close games with the late Billy Tubbs.
“He asked me in 2008, how many close games we’d played under five points or whatever. I told him, ‘Six or seven.’ He said, ‘Good you’re not tired,’’’ Self said of comments from the former University of Oklahoma coach during KU’s national title season.
“He thought there was something to not having to go through that mental grind on a consistent basis. I don’t know if I agree with that. It was something he believed. I do know this … it’d be nice not to have to sweat sometimes. We haven’t put ourselves in enough situations where that’s the case. I’d rather play them than not play them and have success but I think over time you don’t want to be doing it twice a week,” Self added of engaging in nailbiters.
A Jayhawks player who might at some point feel the fatigue caused by an abundance of close games is floor general Marcus Garrett.
Garrett, KU’s 6-5 senior point guard from Dallas, has averaged 9.2 points with 47 assists against 17 turnovers.
Often assigned the opponent’s top perimeter scorer on defense, Garrett has 19 steals on the season while playing an average of 32.0 minutes per game.
“I think Marcus is better when he’s not on the ball so much. We don’t really have as many choices to not put him on the ball unless he and Dajuan (Harris) are in the game together,” Self said.
“We can say what we’d like to do in the best interest of Marcus. What’s in the best interest of the team is to have the ball in his hands more than anybody else. Maybe we could use Jalen (Wilson) to initiate a little more. Last year or the year before, he (Garrett) was a 3-guard that could play the point,” Self added. “He didn’t have the ballhawker guarding him. He had more space when he caught it because of the way people guarded or the personal matchup. He has to labor so much to get what he gets.
“Against Oklahoma State he made some great plays late. He had to be exhausted the way he had to make the great plays. I don’t see that changing a lot. It’s something we’ll have to play through and he has to play through,” Self stated.
Garrett insists he doesn’t feel worn down.
“I wouldn’t say it takes a big toll on me just playing on the ball,” Garrett said. “Last year I kind of played on the ball some too. Me this year being the primary ball handler I don’t think it’s taken a lot of toll on my body.”
KU, which had Saturday’s game against Iowa State postponed because of COVID-19 protocols in ISU’s program, will meet Oklahoma at 11 a.m. Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma. Baylor will travel to Oklahoma State for a 1 p.m. game Saturday.
