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After just two days off and after a tough road win over Texas Tech, No.2 Baylor had every excuse to throw a clunker against a desperate No.9 Kansas team on Monday night. Instead, the Bears won 77-69 in a game they led end to end, releasing a statement that the Big 12, officially and indefinitely, will cross Waco, Texas this season.
Baylor led with up to 16 points and kept control of the game throughout. Kansas had some nice runs in the second half to reduce the lead to five, but the Bears’ offense – and more specifically Jared Butler – had a response at every turn. Butler had 30 points and eight assists, which is seven of the team’s nine three points. Baylor as a team went 28 of 52 from the field, enjoying success around the rim as much as beyond the arc.
Butler’s supporting cast also showed great importance, with MaCio Teague adding 13 points, Davion Mitchell registering 10 on his own and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua coming off the bench to add eight points and a pair of blocks. Mark Vital only scored 4 points but led the way for rebounds, with 10.
All of his points came from alley-oops, and he had a chased blockage in the first half that gave Baylor a big boost in his favor.
Kansas Credit: He didn’t quit when it seemed like he had every right to do just that. Baylor came to KU in waves and KU kept throwing punches. But after getting under five points with 3:19 left, he never came close. The only drama thereafter came in Garbage Time when Chris Teahan made a 3 point out of the glass over time, killing a ton of overwhelming bettors who backed the Bears at -8.5 or -9.
Baylor with the win improves to a perfect 13-0 on the season and to 6-0 in the Big 12 game, one game against Texas and 2.5 games against the Jayhawks. He gets the rest of the week before heading to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State this Saturday.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Jared Butler, the killer from Kansas
First-team All-American, potential NBA first-round draft pick, college superstar. Take your pick on what to call Butler: I’ll call him the Kansas killer. Because its 30-point eruption, although stupendous, is not at all surprising. Against KU in March 2019, Butler scored 31 points; against KU in January 2020, Butler scored 22 points and won inside Allen Fieldhouse; and on Monday he scored 30 points to go with assists in a massive victory. He was always great all night long, and apparently was great every time Baylor needed him.
Christian Braun kept KU in it
He only took seven hits on the night, but second-year goaltender Christian Braun made five – all 3-pointers – in a 17-point outing that included a pair of free throws. 14 of them came in the first half and he single-handedly stopped Baylor from blowing the thing up before half-time. (He only took two shots in the second half – conundrum me that one.) Braun had a lot of support – Ochai Agbaji was strong in the second half in particular – but he can be credited with keeping KU into the mix when it seemed very likely that KU deserved to be completely out of the mix.
Bears make a statement
Baylor has not only wrestled with Kansas in the past – he had an all-time record against KU of 6-33 on the evening – but he’s also struggled recently. KU had won 14 of the last 16 in the series. He had also dominated regardless of location, setting an all-time record against Baylor in Waco of 14-3. It’s just a win that won’t hurt those numbers in the grand scheme, of course. But it’s a momentous victory considering his struggles against Kansas which cannot be overlooked. This type of victory can create real momentum – something Baylor already does. This should scare the rest of the Big 12 off.
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