LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Christian Braun and Ochai Agbaji each scored 18 points and No. 10 Kansas bolted to a big lead and routed No. 8 Baylor 83-59 Saturday to hold the top spot in the Big 12 Conference race.
The Jayhawks (19-3, 8-1) led by as many as 34 points late in the game. This was the first time Kansas had hosted a defending national champion since Dec. 15, 2018, when it beat Villanova 74-71 at Allen Fieldhouse.
Baylor (19-4, 7-3) had won nine straight games against Top 10 opponents. But the Bears never got close to extending that streak — after scoring the first basket, they quickly fell behind 12-2 and their deficit kept increasing.
Jalen Wilson scored 15 for Kansas. Braun had 10 rebounds and Agbaji had nine as the Jayhawks grabbed a 46-37 advantage on the boards.
Adam Flagler had 16 points for Baylor and Kendall Brown added 12.
Kansas was ahead 21-7 before the second media timeout, stretched the lead to 20 and led 39-21 at halftime. Baylor never got closer than 16 points after the break.
The Jayhawks reached the 1-and-1 bonus with 16:43 left in the game. An offensive foul on Matthew Mayer, after he appeared to be hacked on his way to the basket, was one of the early fouls and drew a technical foul on coach Scott Drew.
THE TAKEAWAY
Baylor: It’s hard to win when you don’t make shots. Baylor shot just 29.6 percent (21 of 71) from the field.
Kansas: The Jayhawks don’t lose back-to-back home games very often. Kansas lost last Saturday at home to Kentucky 80-62. The last Kansas team to lose consecutive games at Allen Fieldhouse was in Roy Williams’ first year as head coach, 1988-89.
UP NEXT
Baylor will stay in the state of Kansas in its next game, taking on Kansas State in Manhattan on Wednesday night.
Kansas plays at No. 23 Texas on Monday.
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