Hawking Points: Shorthanded Jayhawks Edge Out Baylor 64-61

KU was depleted due to injury and illness but was able to get another top-15 win.

The Kansas Jayhawks weren’t at full strength Saturday with Kevin McCullar out with a knee injury and Jamari McDowell with an illness. But Kansas found a way to win a nail biter 64-61 over Baylor.

Key Plays

Baylor came out in a 1-3-1 zone, clearly forcing the Jayhawks to shoot from outside. But then Baylor fouled Johnny Furphy on a three to give Kansas its first points and a 3-2 lead. Then Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams gashed the middle for an easy layup. After a Baylor turnover, Adams again finished inside on an out-of-bounds play to go up 7-2.

Ja’Kobe Walter scored all four of Baylor’s points, but KU shared the love. Dajuan Harris sunk a three and then Adams returned the favor to Dickinson to force Scott Drew to take a timeout down 12-4.

Elmarko Jackson came into the game and forced back-to-back steals, the second leading to a Dickinson and-one, but he missed the free throw. Kansas got another steal on the next possession, turning Baylor over six times in seven minutes.

Dickinson went to work in the post and then stepped out and drained a three for 11 early points and a 23-10 Kansas lead. Kansas led by 10 with six late when Jackson was called for a foul on Walters shooting a three (which looked questionable) and then the KU bench picked up a technical following the play. Baylor sank all five free throws and all of a sudden it was 25-20. But on the next possession, Furphy took it himself and finished an and-one.

Baylor again cut it to five with three minutes left and a Dickinson foul led to a one-and-one for the Bears. He missed the front end but Furphy missed a three and then Baylor hit one to make it 28-26. Bill Self called timeout and Harris’ shot was interfered with for goaltending. KU forced a turnover and Harris missed a three but Furphy grabbed the board and was fouled. He made both to put Kansas up six. With Dickinson on the bench with two fouls, Parker Braun drew a charge and then slammed home a pass from Adams. Baylor tried to hold for a final shot but turned it over. Furphy had an open three but missed. Kansas led by six at the break.

Furphy was an and-one machine, stealing the ball and finishing an and-one of the first Baylor possession of the second half. Kansas couldn’t make a shot otherwise and Baylor cut the lead to one with 17:05 left. Harris finished after a timeout but Dickinson missed a couple of uncharacteristic layups. Harris then hit Adams for an out-of-bounds layup to go up five. Baylor turned it over and then Jackson drew a foul and made one of two. Baylor grabbed an offensive board and hit a three but Adam’s answer with a floater.

After Baylor missed two free throws, Harris hit his second three. KU got a stop and Harris found Nick Timberlake for a corner three. Timberlake missed his next three but then got a steal and dunk to give the Jayhawks another double-digit lead. Baylor tried to claw back but Timberlake buried another three and Jackson another steal.

Walters hit two threes and Jayden Nunn hit another to get Baylor down five with 5:15 left. Rather Dennis picked up his fourth foul that sent Harris to the line and he drained both. On the next possession that ended with an out of bounds to Baylor, Harris remained down by the sideline scoreboard across from the KU bench and had to be helped off with a bad limp. Harris returned two minutes later with neither team scoring and Kansas still up five, though the Bears then hit two free throws. Harris hit a floater at the end of the shot clock and then Timberlake skied for a rebound.

Dickinson was called for an offensive foul on a rebound that sent Baylor back to the line with 59.8 seconds. Dickinson missed a shot on the other end but Adams was fouled on an offensive rebound. On the next possession, Timberlake threw the ball away with 14 seconds left. Baylor missed a wide-open three and Timberlake got the rebound and was fouled with five seconds left. Timberlake missed the front end and Walters had an open look at the buzzer but missed it.

Eye-Catching Stat Lines

The Kansas defense was suffocating early. Baylor had just eight made field goals to 11 turnovers in the first half. Getting 12 free-throw attempts kept them in it. Baylor ended with 21 turnovers and shot just 41% from the field on 19 made field goals.

Kansas shot 46% in the first half but made just 2-11 from three. Though the Jayhawks took care of the ball with just four turnovers. KU only hit five of 23 from deep and 43% from the field with just eight turnovers.

Dickinson was a beast offensively, scoring 13 in the first half but just 15 for the game. Furphy also made an impact scoring, just not with the three. He had 11 and five rebounds but was 0-6 from three. Adams picked Dickinson up in the second had and finished with 13 points, four rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Finally, Harris had 14 points and five assists.

Elmarko had an assist and two steals (involved in three) with zero turnovers in the first half. Timberlake was better offensively with eight points but had two turnovers.

Areas of Improvement

Kansas had to keep Baylor off the offensive glass and off the free throw line coming into the game. The Bears grabbed just five offensive boards in the first half but got to the line 12 times, with five coming on that sequence that led to the technical. But Baylor only had 21 free throws for the game. The Bears also grabbed 10 offensive rebounds.

Takeaways

The ending wasn’t pretty but given how depleted the Jayhawks were and the fact that the team had apparently been dealing with an illness going around the team, a win over a top-15 team. Harris in particular made some gutty plays down the stretch. Now health is going to be a big question mark for Monday’s game in Lubbock.