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Baylor put on a historic winning streak in late February against Kansas last season and saw them crumble against their main Big 12 foe. Fast forward a season and the No.2 Bears know a déjà vu after their unbeaten run ended on Saturday night in a 71-58 loss to the No.17 Jayhawks at Phog Allen Fieldhouse that leaves Gonzaga as college basketball’s last undefeated team.
The Bears (18-1, 10-1 Big 12) got off to slow starts in both halves and never recovered in the second half against a Kansas team that dominated boards and paint. Jayhawks center David McCormack played a major role in that equation, scoring 20 points in a redemptive effort after a poor outing in Baylor’s first meeting last month.
Kansas (18-8, 12-6 Big 12) have now won six of their last seven games with only one non-conference game against UTEP on Thursday on their schedule before the playoffs start. The Jayhawks entered the evening as the projected No.5 seed in the NCAA tournament, according to CBS Sports Bracketology expert Jerry Palm, and that won’t change immediately. But victory is a feather in the cap for a program that has struggled this season.
The Bears will remain a projected No.1 seed, but move up to third overall, with Michigan taking second overall in Palm’s projected range. The Wolverines improved to 18-1 overall and 13-1 in the Big Ten with a win over Indiana on Saturday as they have earned five straight wins since returning from a 23-day break between games over early this month.
Baylor still appear to be looking for their own pace after returning from a 21-day hiatus with a narrow victory over a poor Iowa State team on Tuesday. The Bears’ struggles in that game turned out to be an accurate forecast of the problems they faced on Saturday. Much like last season, when Baylor earned a 23-game winning streak in their second game with Kansas, the Jayhawks dodged a sweep and spoiled the extent of Baylor’s dominance.
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