Baylor had a very disappointing regular season, bringing back the majority of last season's 21-11 (9-7 in the Big 12) squad, yet going 5-11 in conference play. Fortunately for Baylor, everyone starts anew in the conference tournament, and the Bears have taken advantage, following up Wednesday night's win over Nebraska with a shocking 71-64 victory over No. 1 seed Kansas Thursday afternoon.The two teams went back and forth all game, but Baylor made the final push, a 12-0 run that began with 8:16 to go and ended with a LaceDarius Dunn 3-pointer that put the Bears up seven with 3:37 remaining, a lead which they would never relinquish.
Kansas got within one after back-to-back 3-pointers by Tyrel Reed and Sherron Collins, but failed to score the rest of the way. Dunn finished with 24 points on 6-of-11 shooting from deep.
Because of its disappointing regular season, Baylor probably needs to win this whole tournament to get into the big dance, but all of a sudden that doesn't seem so unrealistic. Baylor will face the winner of Kansas St. and Texas at 6pm ET Friday, and if they win that will probably go against either Oklahoma or Missouri in Saturday's final. With the way it's playing right now -- Baylor easily dispatched Nebraska by 16 yesterday -- each of those potential matchups seem very winnable.
The loss ends Kansas' bid at a No. 1 seed in the tournament, although that was a long shot anyway. It also raises some concerns about the Jayhawks' performance away from Lawrence, as they lost to Texas Tech by 19 in their most recent road game. Even so, the Big 12 regular-season champs won't fall lower than a three seed, and could even grab a No. 2 seed, depending on how things shake out this weekend.
