No. 4 Kansas stays perfect at home, edges No. 13 Baylor

Field Level Media|published: Sat 10th February, 20:46 2024

Feb 10, 2024; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Baylor Bears center Yves Missi (21) gets tangled up with Kansas Jayhawks center Hunter Dickinson (1) under the basket during the first half at Allen Fieldhouse. credits: William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports

Hunter Dickinson scored 15 points with seven rebounds and Dajuan Harris added 14 points as No. 4 Kansas remained unbeaten at home with a 64-61 victory Saturday over No. 13 Baylor at Lawrence, Kan.

KJ Adams Jr. supplied 13 points and Johnny Furphy chipped in 11 with six steals and as the Jayhawks (19-5, 7-4 Big 12) improved to 13-0 in their own building while rebounding from a loss Monday at Kansas State.

Kansas, which was playing without leading scorer Kevin McCullar Jr. (knee), won despite shooting 5 of 21 (23.8 percent) from 3-point range. The Jayhawks also were without Jamari McDowell (flu).

Yves Missi scored 21 points with eight rebounds and Ja'Kobe Walter added 17 with eight rebounds as Baylor (17-6, 6-4) saw its three-game winning streak come to an end. The Bears were playing without third-leading scorer Langston Love (ankle).

Walter missed a transition 3-point attempt at the final buzzer for Baylor, which outrebounded Kansas 42-25 but committed 21 turnovers to eight for Kansas.

The Jayhawks jumped the Bears in the Big 12 Conference standings, moving into third place, a half-game behind second-place Iowa State and a full game behind first-place Houston.

Kansas was just 2 of 11 from 3-point range when Harris made one to put the Jayhawks up 47-41 with 13:09 remaining. Nicolas Timberlake added another as Kansas took a 50-41 lead with 12:34 to play.

A Timberlake steal and fastbreak dunk gave Kansas a 52-42 lead with 10:27 remaining, and he hit another 3-pointer with 7:44 remaining for a 58-46 lead.

A 9-2 run for Baylor, on two 3-pointers from Walter and one from Jayden Nunn, brought the Bears within 60-55 with 5:15 remaining. Baylor cut the deficit to 62-59 with 2:06 remaining after two free throws from Missi.

The Bears scored the first basket of the game on a layup from Walter before the Jayhawks took charge by grabbing a 23-10 lead midway through the opening half. Baylor cut the deficit to 34-28 at halftime, while being held to 38.1-percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes.

Kansas improved to 20-1 at home against Baylor.

—Field Level Media

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