Big 12 Basketball: Kansas sweeps Baylor, one step closer to conference title

Kansas is well on their way to their 13th straight Big 12 basketball regular season title.

That just about does it. Say goodbye to the Big 12 regular season conference title because Kansas is about to wrap up their 13th crown in 13 years in the coming days.

The No. 3 Jayhawks went into Waco on Saturday and knocked off the No. 4 Baylor Bears, 67-65, as they forced a tough, contested, off-balance jumper from Manu Lecomte in the final seconds to go back to Lawrence with a sweep of Scott Drew’s team. Kansas is now three games up in the Big 12 with only four games remaining in the regular season, making the conference title all but over.

Frank Mason III was the top scorer for KU as the Player of the Year candidate posted 23 points on an efficient 7-of-12 shooting (8-of-8 from the free throw line) and dished out eight dimes. Josh Jackson scored 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting and was the only other Jayhawk in double figures.

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While Devonte’ Graham shot 1-of-12 and finished with just seven points, the off-guard hauled in seven rebounds. Lagerald Vick was also key off the bench as he put up eight points.

But the player of the game was Landen Lucas. Baylor had an enormous advantage in the paint coming into this showdown, but they were unable to flex their muscles inside due to the offensive rebounding, defense, and physical play of Lucas. He once again completed the game with four fouls, however, he did an excellent job with Johnathan Motley in the painted area.

Even though Motley had 19 points and nine rebounds, he shot 8-of-21 from the field and had an uncharacteristic six turnovers. Baylor center Jo Lual-Acuil was also relatively quiet. He pitched in 11 points but recorded only two rebounds and one block.

Meanwhile, a season-long issue for the Bears continued on Saturday as they turned the ball over 16 total times. Without Al Freeman (who was active but didn’t play a single minute), Baylor relies way too heavily on a shooting guard who transitioned into a point guard over the last two years. Beyond Lecomte, King McClure isn’t a great ball-handler (three turnovers) and Jake Lindsey is solid but also is a pass first type of player who isn’t dynamic.

Flip over to Kansas’ side — they had just nine turnovers and Mason and Graham are tremendous with the ball in their hands — and you can clearly see the difference in the two teams.

For the Jayhawks in the big picture, this is obviously another step in the right direction of earning a number one seed and potentially the number one overall seed in the NCAA Tournament if Gonzaga were to be tripped up. Kansas has won some gritty tests this year (this game included), showing that they have the mental toughness and fortitude to make their first Final Four since 2012.

The Bears are in a different situation. They are still likely to earn a high seed in the Big Dance but they’ve lost four of their last six and haven’t had a top 25 win since they beat then-No. 25 Kansas State on the road in mid-January. In fact, most of Baylor’s quality victories came during the non-conference portion of the schedule. While Drew’s unit beat TCU (twice), Iowa State and Oklahoma in Big 12 play, wins against Michigan State, Xavier, Louisville, VCU, and Oregon all came early in the season when teams were just getting into the groove of things.

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The Bears are still very good, however, it’s still a question as to if they can make the Final Four. Of course, we’ll see how it plays out over the next month or so.

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