Darryn Peterson scored 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting to help Kansas roll to an 80-62 victory over Baylor on Friday night in Big 12 action at Lawrence, Kan.
Flory Bidunga had 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting, added 11 rebounds and matched his season best of five blocked shots for the Jayhawks (13-5, 3-2 Big 12). The double-double was Bidunga’s sixth of the season.
It was the second convincing home victory for the unranked Jayhawks this week. Kansas trounced previously unbeaten Iowa State, ranked No. 2 in the nation, by 21 points on Tuesday.
Cameron Carr made five 3-pointers and scored 24 points for Baylor, which dropped to 1-22 all-time at Allen Fieldhouse. Tounde Yessoufou added 18 points for the Bears (11-6, 1-4), who lost for the fourth time in the past five games.
Baylor shot just 36.1% from the field, including 11 of 29 from 3-point range.
Kansas made 50.8% of its shots and hit 5 of 17 from behind the arc. Peterson has six 20-point outings in nine games played. He has missed time due to cramping issues plus hamstring and quadriceps injuries.
Peterson scored 20 points in the first half as the Jayhawks led 43-37 at the break. Carr had 16 in the half and Yessoufou added 15 for Baylor.
Kansas opened the game with nine straight points and led 19-4 with 14:28 left in the first half. Peterson had 13 of the points.
The Jayhawks led by 10 after two free throws by Tre White with 7:04 left. However, Baylor responded with a 13-2 run. Carr drained a trey to cap it and give the Bears a 37-36 lead with 2:51 left.
Kansas scored the final seven points of the half, with Peterson’s jumper with 16 seconds left accounting for the six-point advantage.
Peterson then connected on back-to-back baskets to push the Kansas lead to 47-37.
Bidunga later ended an 11-1 rush with a three-point play to make it 58-40 with 15:41 to go.
A short time later, the Jayhawks rattled off nine straight points. Bidunga’s thunderous dunk culminated the burst and gave Kansas a 75-51 lead with 6:01 left, allowing the Jayhawks to cruise to the finish.
–Field Level Media
