No. 5 KU basketball plays host to No. 9 Baylor ... and its collection of talented guards
In Bill Self’s eyes it’s easy to see why No. 9-ranked Baylor is tied with Texas and Kansas for first place in the Big 12 Conference — and why the Bears enter the homestretch of the regular season as contenders for a top seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
“There’s no team in America that’s got three guards like they’ve got,” Self, KU’s 20th-year coach, said of 6-4 freshman Keyonte George, 6-3 senior Adam Flagler and 6-1 junior LJ Cryer, who take scoring averages of 16.5, 15.8 and 14.9 points per game respectively into Saturday’s Big 12 battle against KU.
Tipoff is 3 p.m. with a live telecast on ESPN.
“That’s the best threesome in America without question offensively. They can all get their own. They can create for others,” Self added. “Keyonte is a terrific passer, has great vision. They are hard to guard because they can take and make hard shots. They are good at that.”
The No. 5-ranked Jayhawks (21-5, 9-4 Big 12) already know firsthand about the strength of Baylor (20-6, 9-4), a team that won the NCAA title two seasons ago. KU, of course, won it all last year.
On Jan. 23, Cryer hit five threes and scored 22 points, while Flagler hit two threes and scored 17 points in BU’s 75-69 win over KU at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. George contributed eight points on 2-of-11 shooting with three assists against no turnovers. Forward Jalen Bridges and guard Langston Love each contributed 11 points for a BU team that finished with four players in double-figure scoring.
KU’s Gradey Dick and Jalen Wilson scored 24 and 23 points respectively on combined 5-of-12 three-point shooting in Waco.
“Baylor has great guards like everyone knows, great shooting guards,” Wilson said. “For us to take away the perimeter, make them become drivers and finish over length I think is our best bet. Their guards are quick, can shoot. They are not the tallest guards. We happen to have tall wings. If they make contested shots like they will all the time, we’ve got to live with it.”
Baylor by winning the first meeting has a chance to become the third Big 12 team in 20 seasons to sweep a regular-season home-and-home set versus KU. The others were Oklahoma State in 2018 and Texas in 2021.
To prevent that, Self says KU must play much better than it did in Waco.
“From an energy standpoint we didn’t do anything to make them uncomfortable — nothing,” Self said. “They won almost every statistical category in stats that aren’t really stats: offensive rebounds, deflections, dives, charges taken, 50/50 balls, things that don’t show up like points, rebounds, assists (do). They have just as big an impact on the game. I thought they controlled those areas.
“We didn’t do enough to put real good game pressure on them the last four minutes. That’s what you hope for when you play a top 10 team on the road, at least make them sweat. It didn’t feel like a six-point game even though we had a couple chances late and botched those up.”
It’s a huge game with KU, BU and Texas entering weekend play 9-4 in the league. Iowa State is 8-5 followed by Kansas State and Oklahoma State (7-6), TCU (6-7), West Virginia (4-9) and then Oklahoma and Texas Tech (3-10).
So is this the biggest game of the year for the Jayhawks?
“I’ll say ‘yes’ — then the next game will be the biggest game ever,” Wilson said. “As far as now, yes, to make separation. It’d put us a game ahead of them. Then it’d be us and Texas assuming (the Longhorns) win (over) whoever they play (UT will face Oklahoma on Saturday in Austin, Texas).
“It’s important just because now it’s no time for error. You lose a game now, there may be no time to catch up. Maybe we can get a game ahead and create some separation. That’d put us in the best place to win.”
Self said: “It’s a big game for a lot of reasons. It’s the next game. It’s not the biggest game we’re going to play this year. Certainly it’s not the biggest game Baylor is going to play this year, but up until this point? It’s probably as big a game as we’ve played this year. I think it’s a big game both ways.”
KU has another huge game on Monday in Fort Worth, Texas. The Jayhawks visit TCU, another team trying to sweep the home-and-home set with the Jayhawks. The Horned Frogs clobbered the Jayhawks 83-60 on Jan. 21 in Lawrence.
GameDay TV show information
Fans are invited to attend ESPN’s morning GameDay show to run from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. (Central) Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse. Admission is free. This will mark the second straight season and 11th time that GameDay will broadcast from Allen Fieldhouse
ESPN College GameDay is hosted by Rece Davis, who is joined by analysts Jay Bilas, LaPhonso Ellis and Seth Greenberg.
Student doors open at 7:30 a.m. at Gate 2. General public doors open at 7:45 a.m. at Gate 6. Gate 11 will be available for those needing an accessible entrance. Parking during College GameDay is free. Vehicles must be moved by 12 p.m. as normal game-day parking enforcement will take effect for the KU-Baylor contest, which starts at 3 p.m., at Allen.
This story was originally published February 17, 2023 at 8:30 AM.
