Live blog: No. 3 Kansas visits No. 1 Baylor in college basketball's game of the year
Third-ranked Kansas knocked off top-ranked Baylor 64-61 in Waco on Saturday in a potential Final Four matchup.
Wait for it... pic.twitter.com/4COUyjsXXG
— Kansas Basketball (@KUHoops) February 22, 2020
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Second half
Kansas 64, Baylor 61
Leading 64-61, Kansas opted not to foul, and Baylor’s Jared Butler missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Bears lost for the first time since November.
Kansas big man Udoka Azubuike was dominant, with 23 points, 19 rebounds and three blocks.
Go ahead, big fella 😂 pic.twitter.com/lpUub1Tynh
— Kansas Basketball (@KUHoops) February 22, 2020
Leading 62-58, Kansas turned it over on the inbounds pass — and Baylor’s MaCio Teague hit a trey to make it 62-61 with 16.2 seconds to go. Baylor took a long time to foul and sent Isaiah Moss to the line with 7.9 seconds left. He hit both free throws to make it 64-61 Kansas.
Trailing 60-55, Baylor’s Mark Vital forced a KU turnover, but the Bears missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Vital, however, forced a held ball and the Bears got the ball back with 1:19 to go. Jared Butler missed a 3-pointer, however. Devon Dotson, however, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with about 40 seconds left, and Udoka Azubuike then committed his fourth foul. Baylor’s Freddie Gillespie missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and Dotson hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to make it 62-55 with 32.3 seconds left. A long 3-pointer by Baylor’s Jared Butler made it 62-58 with 26.5 seconds to go.
The Bears missed a point-blank shot that could have cut the Jayhawks’ lead to one. A fourth foul by Mark Vital put Marcus Garrett on the foul line. He hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to make it 58-53. A block from Udoka Azubuike led to a held ball and Kansas getting possession with 2:30 left. A layup by Azubuike made it 60-53. Baylor’s Freddie Gillespie hit two free throws to make it 60-55 with 1:55 left.
Here come the Bears! A big-time block from Baylor’s Davion Mitchell led to a fifth foul for Kansas’ David McCormack as the Bears have made it a one-possession game with 3:37 remaining.
Can we just have Baylor and Kansas play each other the rest of the college basketball season? This game has been phenomenal. Here's to them meeting twice more in the Big12 Championships and Final Four. We all deserve it after this season of mediocre basketball.
— Krysten Peek (@krystenpeek) February 22, 2020
Baylor pulled within six with a transition alley-oop, but Devon Dotson came right back with a layup for Kansas. A 3-pointer from Jared Butler got the Bears within 56-51.
Kansas went on an 7-0 run to take a double-digit lead (48-37) with 11:43 to play before a 3-pointer from Baylor’s Jared Butler ended the run. The Bears pulled within 52-44 with 7:48 remaining.
Isaiah Moss and Udoka Azubuike scored back-to-back buckets to open the second half as the Jayhawks’ lead grew to 38-31 before Baylor’s Jared Butler and Moss traded baskets. A KU turnover led to an easy Baylor basket and cut the Jayhawks’ lead to 40-35 with 15:40 remaining.
First half
Kansas 34, Baylor 31
Baylor scored the last six points of the first half, ending it with a rejection, to pull within three points at the break. Kansas played 18 strong minutes but struggled in the final two minutes of the half.
Udoka Azubuike led Kansas with 13 points and eight rebounds. Marcus Garrett scored seven.
Udoka Azubuike is getting triple teamed in the lane AND STILL getting to the rim. Not much more Baylor can do defensively. Azubuike has 13 points and 8 rebounds at the half. That's twice the amount of points he had the entire game the first time these 2 teams played.
— Krysten Peek (@krystenpeek) February 22, 2020
Devon Dotson went to the bench with his second foul with about six minutes to play in the first half. He came back into the game after Marcus Garrett picked up his second foul with 4:27 left in the half.
Baylor hit just 6 of 11 free throws in the first half.
Baylor scored the game’s first five points before a Udoka Azubuike slam started a 9-0 run for Kansas.
Good news for Baylor as junior guard MaCio Teague, who has missed the past two games with a wrist injury, is playing against Baylor. And he made an impact.
Welcome back, MaCio! Big three to start the game.
Bears 5-2 early.#SicEm | #1TGF pic.twitter.com/DXa9q7mZ8X— Baylor Basketball (@BaylorMBB) February 22, 2020
Pregame
Who’s going to win?
You can make your prediction above. Yahoo Sports’ Krysten Peek breaks down the matchup and predicts a winner here.
‘College GameDay’ is here
It’s setting up to be a beautiful day in Waco.
Baylor fans are hyped for GameDay! 👏 pic.twitter.com/fiqu8AV9o7
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) February 22, 2020
Big one comin' at you from Waco!
👉 #3 Kansas at #1 Baylor
📺 ESPN
🕐 11 AM CT pic.twitter.com/yZfjSujSuh— Kansas Basketball (@KUHoops) February 22, 2020
"This is the biggest game of the day, maybe the biggest game of the year.”
—Seth Greenberg on Kansas vs. Baylor pic.twitter.com/R70b5yn5xc— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) February 22, 2020
This is a huge day for Scott Drew’s program.
Scott Drew let Baylor fans be the GameDay picker and you won't be surprised by who they're rocking with 😂 pic.twitter.com/kXsiNz4HDN
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) February 22, 2020
From the Rivals network
The Jayhawks have won 11 straight but lost to the Bears 67-55 on Jan. 11.
From JayhawkSlant.com:
Kansas, without question, will have its hands full on Saturday.
“They can go basically seven or eight starters,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “They are all good. ... The quartet on the perimeter can all get their own shot and they can stretch it and can score off of two feet.”