RayJ Dennis had 14 of his team-high 19 points as No. 15 Baylor knocked off No. 7 Kansas 82-74 Saturday afternoon in Waco, Texas. The Bears took sole possession of third place in the Big 12 Conference with two games remaining in the regular season.
The early part of the game featured nine ties and 10 lead changes before Baylor seized control. The Bears (21-8, 10-6 Big 12) got 18 points from Jayden Nunn, 17 from Yves Missi and 11 from Ja'Kobe Walter.
Kansas (21-8, 9-7 Big 12) now has seven conference losses for the first time in head coach Bill Self's 21-year career at Kansas.
Kansas welcomed back leading scorer Kevin McCullar, who had missed five of the Jayhawks' last eight games with a bone bruise on his knee. Self expressed concern earlier this week that McCullar might not play again in the regular season. He finished with 20 points to tie for the team lead with Hunter Dickinson. Dajuan Harris added 12.
Baylor used a 13-2 run early in the second half to turn a 1-point game into a 60-48 lead, the largest lead of the game by either team to that point. Nunn had 7 points in the run.
After Baylor extended the lead to 66-53, Kansas responded with an 11-4 run to trim the deficit to six. But the Jayhawks couldn't get closer until Harris' reverse layup with 1:43 left made it 75-71.
But the Bears were 6-of-8 from the line in the closing moments to ice the victory.
The first half saw eight lead changes and six ties and ended up not deciding much of anything as Baylor led 35-34 at halftime. Each team held multiple leads of 5 points, and each had runs of at least 6-0.
Kansas shot 65.2 percent (15-of-23) in the first half, while Baylor used the long-range shot to stay in the game. The Bears shot 48.1 percent from the field, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range.
Dickinson led all scorers in the half with 10 points for Kansas. Missi led Baylor with 9 points.
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