No. 10 Kansas Routs No. 8 Baylor in Big 12 Action Behind Balanced Team Performance

Baylor suffered its second defeat in three games, losing to No. 10 Kansas 83-59 at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas.

Kansas was up 18 by halftime after holding Baylor to 21 first-half points. The Bears shot 8-of-31 from the field as a team and were sorely missing leading scorer LJ Cryer, who was out because of a lingering foot injury.

The Jayhawks led by as many as 34 points as they improved to 19-3. The eighth-ranked Bears, meanwhile, slipped to 19-4.

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Notable Performers

Christian Braun, G, Kansas: 18 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, one steal

Ochai Agbaji, G, Kansas: 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists

James Akinjo, G, Baylor: one rebound, three assists, two steals

Adam Flagler, G, Baylor: 16 points, two rebounds, one assist, four steals

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Kansas Atones for Kentucky Drubbing

Around this time last week, the Jayhawks were licking their wounds from a heavy 80-62 defeat at the hands of Kentucky. Although head coach Bill Self moved on as quickly as possible mentally, it was a stunning result from a program that's typically so difficult to beat at home.

Since then, Kansas already picked up a 70-61 victory over No. 20 Iowa State, but this felt a more cathartic win.

This was a great collective effort by Kansas from start to finish. The Jayhawks didn't rest on their laurels coming out of halftime and instead poured it on even more. This sequence at the 11:33 mark of the second half encapsulated the contest.

Christian Braun set the tone with his 14 points in the first half. His determination and swagger were infectious across his team.

Kansas already had ranked victories over Iowa State (twice), Texas Tech on its resume. A shellacking to this degree was absent until Saturday and it reaffirmed the Jayhawks' status as the top team in the Big 12 at the moment.

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Baylor Finds Itself in Unfamiliar Position

The Bears dropped six games over the past two seasons, and their three losses entering Saturday all came by single digits. Calling Baylor a front-runner would be inaccurate, but this is a team that doesn't dig itself into as big of a hole as it experienced against Kansas.

There's no question Cryer's absence had a negative impact on Baylor's offense. But head coach Scott Drew at least got Adam Flagler and enough firepower to have mounted a better challenge against Kansas. James Akinjo missed all 11 of his shot attempts.

Kansas' wildly divergent outcomes from last week to Saturday is an example of why fans shouldn't read too much into one game. There are some days when things go inexplicably wrong.

Drew might also be able to use this to help refocus his players for the home stretch of the regular season. All will be forgiven if Baylor defends its home court and gains a measure of revenge against Kansas on Feb. 26.

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What's Next?

Kansas' stretch of five ranked opponents ends Monday against No. 23 Texas in Austin. Baylor stays on the road to play Kansas State on Wednesday.