No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks get upended on road at No. 10 Baylor Bears in Big 12 showdown
No. 5-ranked Kansas had a chance to assure itself at least a tie for the 2021-22 Big 12 regular-season title by defeating No. 10 Baylor on Saturday night at Ferrell Center.
The Jayhawks, who learned shortly after tip in Waco, that Texas Tech (now 22-7, 11-5) had defeated TCU, failed to finish the task at hand, squandering a 13-point lead in an 80-70 loss to the Bears (24-5, 12-4). This was a day in which KU had to win and the second-place Bears and Red Raiders both lose for KU to earn a portion of a title with three games to play.
“Definitely a lost opportunity,” said KU guard Ochai Agbaji, who scored 27 points on 8-of-22 shooting (4-of-14 from three) in a defeat that dropped the Jayhawks to 23-5 overall and 12-3 in the league.
“I was talking to Dajuan (Harris) in the second half. I said, ‘We have this right in front of us.’ It sucks we couldn’t convert tonight,” Agbaji added.
The Jayhawks now hold a one-game lead over Baylor in the loss column and two game lead over Tech. KU has three games remaining, Baylor and Tech two apiece.
“Everything is still right in front of us,” Agbaji stated.
Christian Braun, who scored 17 points and grabbed 10 boards for Kansas, said: “We lost a tough game, We’ll move forward now. There are lot of things we can learn from this game. If we win three games and take care of what we’re supposed to do, we’ll be Big 12 champs.”
It looked as if it’d be a monumental night for the Jayhawks who welcomed back senior guard Remy Martin after a seven-game absence due to a bone bruise in his right knee.
Martin scored five points, all the first half, in 11 minutes. He also took a charge on defense.
“Remy was great,” Agbaji said. “To get thrown out there in this environment after missing so many games was impressive. He was bringing energy. To be back on the floor I know felt good for him,” Agbaji added.
Noted Braun: “Once he gets back in the swing of things, if we let Remy be Remy, we’ll be fine.”
KU coach Bill Self said Martin “did fine. He needs to get out there and get some rhythm. He did fine.”
Self, whose team had not yet shot a free throw in the game, was whistled for a technical foul after complaining about a no-call on a shot by Braun early in the second half. James Akinjo (12 points, six assists) hit two free throws and Baylor led 35-32.
The ’T,’ though, seemed to fire up the Jayhawks who immediately went on a 7-0 run to lead 39-35 at 17:25 Agbaji hit KU’s first two free throws of the night, had a dunk and a three in a personal 7-0 surge.
KU finished 15 of 20 from the line; Baylor 21 of 26.
“I didn’t think I deserved it. I’m joking,” Self said with a smile. ‘I said (to ref), ‘I can’t believe you gave me a ‘T.’ He said, ‘Bill you about accosted me.’ (Self said) ‘Yeah I know, (but) what a missed call you had.’ I thought our team played better after that. Ochai went on a little run by himself after that. Yeah that was a missed call. There’s no doubt about that.”
In how-the-game-was-won department … Baylor’s Kendall Brown scored four straight points and the Bears led, 59-55, at 7:54. After KU cut the gap to 59-58, Brown scored a layup and it was 61-58 BU at 6:31.
A critical juncture came after Agbaji hit a three-pointer at 4:40 to tie the game at 63-63. Mo Thamba (18 points, 8-of-13 shooting) scored on Baylor’s next possession and after an Agbaji miss, Jeremy Sochan (17 points) was fouled by KU’s David McCormack on an inside bucket to make it 67-63 at 3:45. Sochan made the free throw as the Bears took a five-point lead, 68-63.
Agbaji hit two free throws that cut the gap to three. Matthew Mayer’s three made it 71-65 Baylor at 3:01. It was 71-68 when Baylor’s Adam Flagler and Akinjo scored baskets (Akinjo adding a free throw) and it was 76-68.
Self was asked about the fact other top-six teams (Arizona, Auburn, Purdue and Kentucky) had also lost on Saturday. Gonzaga played a late game on Saturday night.
“Of the teams we are fighting with for a higher seed, we all lost,” Self said, adding, “we shouldn’t dwell on this as we leave the building. If we don’t take are of business against TCU Tuesday we’d have to get back-to-back (wins) to get a tie (for title).”
KU will play at TCU on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 9:39 PM.
