Kansas basketball’s 2023-24 season continued Saturday with an 82-74 road loss against Big 12 Conference-foe Baylor.

Here are a few takeaways from the No. 9 Jayhawks (21-8, 9-7 in Big 12) defeat against the No. 14 Bears (21-8, 10-6 in Big 12):

Kevin McCullar Jr. returns to starting lineup

Graduate senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr.’s latest absence, due to injury, came to an end Saturday. After missing Kansas’ past two games against Texas and BYU, which the Jayhawks split, he returned to the starting lineup against Baylor. This season, he’s played and started in 24 games and missed a total of five.

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McCullar’s stat line wrapped up at 20 points, five rebounds and two assists. Although he struggled at times, especially early, it was a much better performance for him individually than the one he had when Kansas won at Oklahoma in February the last time he played. It wasn’t enough to deliver a win at Baylor.

Don’t overlook Dajuan Harris Jr.’s performance

Redshirt senior guard Dajuan Harris Jr. didn’t lead Kansas in scoring, but went on to finish with 12 points and nine assists.

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Other standouts for Kansas included senior center Hunter Dickinson, who had 20 points and six rebounds. Junior forward KJ Adams Jr. had moments where he flashed and freshman guard Johnny Furphy had a quiet game.

Kansas loses back-to-back games for first time this season

This was the seventh time this season that Kansas has entered a game while coming off of a loss. The previous six times, the Jayhawks ensured they wouldn’t experience back-to-back defeats and came away with a win. But this time, coach Bill Self and company weren’t able to get it done and have lost two games in a row — at home against BYU and on the road against Baylor.

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The 3-point disparity showed up again, although not as much as it appeared. The same goes for rebounding. In an environment that’s as tough to play in as the Bears’ home arena, the latter is certainly something that can spell doom for a visiting team like Kansas.

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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kevin McCullar Jr. returned, but Kansas basketball still lost