Freshman guard Robert Wright III scored a career-high 24 points to lead short-handed Baylor to an 81-70 upset over No. 11 Kansas on Saturday in Waco, Texas.
VJ Edgecombe scored 14 points but didn’t return after he went to the locker room with what was reported as a lower-body injury with 14:38 left in the game. Norchad Omier had a double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds.
Jalen Celestine added 12 points and shot 4 of 8 from 3-point range. Josh Ojianwuna added 11 points for the Bears (14-7, 6-4 Big 12), who outscored the Jayhawks 60-30 in the second half.
Hunter Dickinson led Kansas with 20 points. Dajuan Harris Jr. scored 12 points and dished out eight assists in his return from an ankle injury. Rylan Griffen added 11 points off the bench for Kansas (15-6, 6-4).
Baylor used a series of second-half runs to overcome a 19-point halftime deficit, 40-21. Wright’s leaner in the lane tied the game at 63 with 4:32 to play.
One play later, Wright got a rebound, pushed it down court and kicked a pass to Celestine for a 3-pointer that gave the Bears a 66-63 lead that they would not relinquish.
Griffen starred in an earlier 7-0 run as he followed up a triple with an alley-oop slam on a pass from Harris as the Jayhawks took a 15-9 first-half lead.
David Coit hit back to back treys and kicked off an 11-0 run as the Jayhawks’ advantage stretched to 26-10 on Flory Bidunga’s steal and slam followed by Griffen’s 3-pointer with 9:14 left in the first half.
Kansas held a 20-0 edge in bench points and forced Baylor into 12 first-half turnovers as the Jayhawks took a 40-21 halftime lead.
Baylor opened the second half on a 9-0 run as Wright’s back-to-back runners cut the Kansas lead to 40-30. Celestine hit a pair of treys as the Bears pulled within 44-38 and with 15:22 left.
Harris’ turnover led to an Edgecombe floater as Baylor trailed 44-40 after an 8-0 rally. Dickinson’s layup put Kansas up 46-40, but the Bears reeled off seven straight points to take a 47-46 lead with 13:02 to play.
KJ Adams’ layup gave Kansas a 59-49 lead with 9:09 to play. The Jayhawks were on a 13-2 run that ended when Celestine drilled a 3-pointer to cut the Kansas’ lead to 59-52.
–Field Level Media
