LJ Cryer scored 19 of his 22 points in the first half to help No. 17 Baylor post a 75-69 victory over No. 9 Kansas in Big 12 play on Monday night at Waco, Texas.
Adam Flagler added 17 points for the Bears (15-5, 5-3 Big 12), who won their fifth straight game. Jalen Bridges contributed 11 points, nine rebounds and three steals and Langston Love also scored 11 points for Baylor.
Gradey Dick scored 24 points and Jalen Wilson had 23 for Kansas (16-4, 5-3), which lost its third consecutive contest. Kevin McCullar added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Jayhawks.
Baylor is just 9-30 all-time against Kansas but has won four of the past seven meetings. The Jayhawks led for just 52 seconds in Monday’s game.
Baylor shot 37.1 percent from the field, including 9 of 30 from 3-point range. Cryer was 5 of 11 from behind the arc.
The Jayhawks made 46.2 percent of their shots and were 5 of 19 from behind the arc. Kansas committed 15 turnovers to Baylor’s nine.
The Jayhawks made a late charge and Dick scored on a layup and McCullar made two free throws as Kansas crept within 70-65 with 2:09 remaining.
Love made two free throws with 1:26 left but Wilson answered with a basket seven seconds later.
Bridges split two free throws with 40.1 seconds to play to give the Bears a 73-67 lead. He then sank two free throws with 22.8 seconds left to make it an eight-point margin and Baylor closed it out.
Kansas took its first lead of the game at 46-45 on Wilson’s 3-pointer with 15:24 remaining in the game.
The Bears answered with a 12-3 run with Love scoring six points, including a 3-pointer to give Baylor a 57-49 lead with 12:51 left.
A three-point play by Love made it 62-53 with 9:57 remaining.
Dick’s basket brought Kansas within seven with 9:39 left but the Jayhawks went nearly five minutes without scoring. The Bears scored six straight during the stretch to lead 68-55 with 4:47 left.
Wilson drove for a hoop to end the dry spell and cut Baylor’s lead to 11 with 4:41 to play. McCullar followed with a putback and Wilson added another driving basket as the Jayhawks moved within 68-61 with 3:35 remaining.
Bridges scored on a dunk to give the Bears a nine-point advantage with 2:55 left.
Cryer made five 3-pointers and scored 19 first-half points as the Bears led 41-34 at the break.
–Field Level Media
