GAMEDAY Mens Basketball
Baylor 75, Kansas 69
(AP Photo/Jerry Larson)
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
WACO, Texas - LJ Cryer had 22 points with five 3-pointers and 17th-ranked Baylor stretched its Big 12-best winning streak to five games with a 75-69 win over No. 9 Kansas in a matchup of the last two national champions.
The reigning champion Jayhawks (16-4, 5-3 Big 12) coming off a 23-point home loss to TCU, lost their third straight game. It's only their fourth three-game losing streak in coach Bill Self's 20 seasons.
Adam Flagler added 17 points, while Jalen Bridges and Langston Love each had 11 for 2021 champion Baylor (15-5, 5-3), which overcome another tough shooting night. The Bears were 37.1% from the field (23 of 62) two days after a 62-60 win at Oklahoma when they shot a season-low 36.2%.
Freshman Gradey Dick had 24 points for the Jayhawks while Jalen Wilson had 23. Kevin McCullar Jr. had 14 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double this season.
Love converted a three-point play for the Bears with 14:32 left to put them ahead to stay after Kansas took its only lead at 46-45 when Wilson swished a 3-pointer from the left wing. Love's field goal and free throw started a 12-3 run that he capped with a 3-pointer.
KJ Adams made two free throws with 6 seconds left in the first half to get the Jayhawks within 41-34, the closest they had been since about five minutes into the game.
After Wilson's layup got Kansas within 11-7, Baylor had a 9-0 run that was punctuated by Josh Ojianwuna's two-handed putback dunk. That was the last time in the half that the Bears had consecutive scores, though Cryer did make three 3s in an 83-second span - the first two after 3s by Dick and Wilson, and the third following two free throws by Dick.
BIG PICTURE
Kansas: The other times the Jayhawks lost three in a row under Self were in February 2005, February 2013 and January 2021. ... Dick got his second foul only 3:13 into the first half, and was limited to 11 minutes before the break.
Baylor: The Bears got off to a fast start with a steal by Bridges that led to a fast-break layup by Cryer before Flo Thamba had a three-point play. Bridges then had another steal, this one in the backcourt, though Cryer missed an open 3 that would have made it 8-0 only a minute into the game. ... The Bears are 25-8 against Top 25 teams over the past four seasons, the nation's best mark.
January 23, 2023
| Kansas | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| J. Wilson | F | 38 | 10-16 | 0-0 | 3-7 | 0-5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 23 |
| K. Adams Jr. | F | 28 | 1-5 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| D. Harris Jr. | G | 37 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| K. McCullar Jr. | G | 35 | 3-9 | 8-8 | 0-3 | 2-12 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| G. Dick | G | 31 | 8-13 | 6-6 | 2-5 | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 24 |
| J. Yesufu | 14 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| B. Pettiford Jr. | 6 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| M. Rice | 5 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
| E. Udeh Jr. | 5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Totals | 199 | 24-52 (.462) |
16-16 (1.000) |
5-19 (.263) |
8-33 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 21 | 69 | |
| Baylor | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| J. Bridges | F | 27 | 3-6 | 4-5 | 1-2 | 4-9 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| F. Thamba | F | 26 | 1-1 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| L. Cryer | G | 37 | 8-16 | 1-2 | 5-11 | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 22 |
| A. Flagler | G | 35 | 5-18 | 5-5 | 2-9 | 1-2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| K. George | G | 29 | 2-11 | 4-5 | 0-5 | 2-4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| L. Love | 18 | 3-7 | 4-4 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| J. Ojianwuna | 14 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| C. Lohner | 13 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Totals | 199 | 23-62 (.371) |
20-25 (.800) |
9-30 (.300) |
17-35 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 75 | |
