Quick recap: No. 13 Kansas defeats Baylor in regular-season finale

By Shane Jackson     Mar 9, 2019

Nick Krug
Kansas forward David McCormack (33) puts a shot over Baylor forward Freddie Gillespie (33) during the first half, Saturday, March 9, 2019 at Allen Fieldhouse.

For the first time in awhile, the Kansas men’s basketball team was not playing for a league title in the final weekend of the season.

That didn’t stop No. 13 KU from taking care of business with a 78-70 win over Baylor Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse. With the win in the regular-season finale, the Jayhawks (23-8, 12-6 Big 12) finished undefeated at home with a 17-0 clip in Allen Fieldhouse.

It is the 20th time Kansas has went undefeated at home, and first time since going 16-0 during the 2015-16 season. The Jayhawks have also won 36 consecutive regular-season home finales, which began in the 1983-84 season. Baylor (19-12, 10-8) is now 0-16 against KU in Allen Fieldhouse in program history.

Dedric Lawson led the way with 23 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Devon Dotson and David McCormack finished with 15 points and 12 points, respectively. Baylor was led by Jared Butler, who finished with 31 points on 10-of-21 shooting.

Here’s a quick look back at some of the action:

• The game turned when: After a tightly-contest first half, KU created some breathing room with a strong start to the second half.

The Jayhawks scored the first eight points after the intermission to take a 40-29 lead with 17:13 left in the game. McCormack got things going with a hard-earned bucket in the post, while freshman Devon Dotson netted a layup shortly after that.

Dedric Lawson, who scored just six points in the first half, then notched a pair of buckets in a 50-second stretch to give the Jayhawks a double-digit advantage. The game was never in doubt after that.

• Offensive highlight: A pair of first-half dunks by Kansas brought a nice roar of approval from the fans in Allen Fieldhouse.

With 18:11 left in the first half, McCormack scored KU’s first points with a ferocious slam. The dunk came off a nifty touch pass from fellow freshman Ochai Agabai, in which McCormack threw the dunk down with authority. McCormack stared down the Baylor defender down, which warranted a warning from the official.

Later in the first half, Agbaji did the honors of notching KU’s second dunk of the afternoon. Freshman Quentin Grimes fired a pass from the perimeter just as Agabji cut backdoor. Agabji completed the sequence off with a slam, giving Kansa a 24-21 advantage at the 6:41 mark.

• Defensive highlight: The key to Kansas claiming a 32-29 lead at the halftime was its efforts at limiting Baylor from long range.

The Bears missed their first nine attempts from long range. Their first 3-pointer didn’t come until the 5:34 mark in the first half. Baylor hit just two triples the entire first half, firing up a total of 15 attempts. For the game, the Bears went 6-for-31 from long range.

It was meaningful given how much success BU has had from 3-point land during the conference action. Entering Saturday, Baylor was shooting as Big-12 leading 38.7 percent from downtown during league games.

•Up next: Kansas will compete in the Big 12 tournament next week.

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