Postgame Report Card: Baylor 80, Kansas 64

By Matt Tait     Feb 10, 2018

Kansas guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (10) and the Jayhawks come back into the game after a timeout late in the second half, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2018 at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

Quick grades for five aspects of KU’s 80-64 loss at Baylor on Saturday in Waco, Texas.

Offense: D
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Devonte’ Graham did everything he could to get this team’s offense going, both by scoring buckets and pushing the pace to try to get easy looks for his teammates and KU’s transition game going, but he was just one man. The rest of the offense was woeful at best, misfiring too many times, turning the ball over and making bad decisions from start to finish.

Defense: D
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The few minutes of zone that the Jayhawks played well in the second half helped Kansas crawl back into the game, but they still gave up 50 points in the second half and allowed Baylor to shoot 56.6 percent for the game, including 53.3 percent from 3-point range. Not the kind of defense Bill Self is used to seeing nor demands from his teams.

By the Numbers: Baylor 80, Kansas 64.

Frontcourt: F
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Once again, Udoka Azubuike was careless with his fouls and too often made bad decisions with the ball when he actually did get it. His 4-of-4 shooting performance might look decent and seem deserving of something better than an F, but, in reality, it just makes his overall offensive night look worse because he should have been doing much more of that instead of allowing Baylor to gain confidence guarding him by being passive in the post. Add to that an uncharacteristic, low-energy start by Mitch Lightfoot and this grade is easy.

Backcourt: C-
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Given what Graham did, it’s hard to go too low here. And there were some — some — decent moments from a couple of KU’s guards. But overall, the backcourt looked lost and played fragmented basketball for far too much of KU’s ugliest loss of the season.

Bench: D-
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It’s kind of odd to call it a bench, given the fact that two of the three guys who played off the bench played 32 minutes apiece, but that speaks both to this team’s chemistry issues and lack of depth. The fact that two players who have primarily functioned as starters this season could not bring much energy or production off the bench was bad for the Jayhawks and this grade.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.