Despite being part of the elite teams in the nation, No. 13 Baylor and the No. 4 Kansas are not leading their conference. When they face each other on Saturday afternoon in Lawrence, Kan., both teams will aim to move closer to the top position in the conference.
Both squads have secured six victories in their Big 12 matches. Baylor (17-5, 6-3) is tied for the second spot, edging out the 4th-placed Kansas (18-5, 6-4) by a half-game. Currently, both teams are trailing No. 5 Houston, with Baylor half a game behind and level with the No. 14 Iowa State, whereas the Jayhawks are one game behind.
Baylor has not encountered Houston this season, whereas Kansas claimed a 78-65 win against the Cougars last weekend. However, the Jayhawks suffered a 75-70 defeat in overtime against Kansas State on Monday.
On Monday, Hunter Dickinson scored 21 points and secured 12 rebounds for Kansas, while Dajuan Harris Jr. and Kevin McCullar Jr. each contributed 15 points. KJ Adams Jr. also scored 13 points, including a dunk that tied the game with 14.2 seconds remaining, resulting in overtime.
In the overtime period, Harris secured an early lead for the Jayhawks with a 3-pointer before the Wildcats made a comeback with eight points from Tylor Perry.
“The thing about it is, folks, we’re not good enough to not execute, not play smart,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “You go on the road, you need to make free throws, you need to do a lot. You need to take advantage of the opportunities, and we didn’t do that well enough.”
Kansas has suffered all four of their conference defeats on the road. The Jayhawks have maintained a perfect 12-0 home record this season and have an all-time home record of 19-1 against Baylor, with their only loss occurring in 2020.
Baylor is currently on a three-match winning streak, which comes amidst a season marked by streaks. This recent surge follows a three-game losing streak. Prior to that, there was a five-match winning streak during the nonconference schedule.
Additionally, the season began with a 9-0 winning streak, which was then followed by consecutive defeats.
Baylor’s latest victory was a 79-73 triumph against the 23rd-ranked Texas Tech at home on Tuesday. RayJ Dennis led Baylor with 21 points and five assists, while Yves Missi contributed 17 points and Jayden Nunn added 14.
Ja’Kobe Walter, Baylor’s top scorer with an average of 14.2 points per game, has failed to reach double digits in the last three matches.
In his debut season at Baylor, following spells at Boise State and Toledo, Dennis has averaged 13.8 points and 6.4 assists.
“I think RayJ has been trending up and getting used to Big 12 basketball and the grind required of it,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “He probably could have had eight or nine assists (vs. the Red Raiders) if we had made some shots.
“What excites me is we haven’t played our best basketball yet. At some point, that’s our goal. We haven’t been the best we can be on both ends of the court at the same time.”
Kansas holds a 35-9 all-time advantage over Baylor and has a 6-5 lead in the series dating back to February 2018. The series has been fiercely competitive since Kansas’ 11-game winning streak from January 2014 to January 2018.
