WACO, Texas — Kansas guard Dajuan Harris looked desperate.
As the shot clock expired, Harris heaved a three late in the second half of KU’s 75-69 loss in Waco, Texas. The ball didn’t come close to hitting anything but air.
On the next KU possession, the Baylor faithful chanted “air-ball” and Harris drove toward the rim, only to get blocked by Baylor center Flo Thamba. BU led 67-55 with 5:02 left in the game.
It was that kind of Monday night for the Jayhawks at Ferrell Center.
LJ Cryer scored 22 points and Adam Flagler added 17 as the No. 17 Bears (15-5, 5-3 Big 12) upset the No. 9 Jayhawks for their fifth straight conference win after starting 0-3.
Gradey Dick scored 24 points and Jalen Wilson added 23 for the Jayhawks, who have lost three straight games for the first time since the 2020-21 season — though that included a postponement of a contest in the middle of that stretch.
Like clockwork, Kansas found itself down big early (23-10) with 11:27 left in the first half. Slowly, KU chipped away at the lead and cut it down to a seven-point Baylor lead (41-34) at the half.
Early in the second half, the Jayhawks took their first lead after Wilson hit a three to put them up 46-45 … but it lasted 52 seconds. The Bears responded with a 12-3 run to regain control of the game.
KU made a late run to cut the deficit to five but couldn’t get any closer.
After starting 5-0 in conference play, KU will try to avoid its first four-game losing streak since 1988-89 as the Jayhawks meet Kentucky on Saturday at Rupp Arena. Kansas is now tied with Baylor for fourth in the conference.
Here are three takeaways from Monday’s game...
Kansas’ energy lacks at the start ... yet again
A common theme has emerged this season for KU: lethargic energy to start the game. It happened again on Monday.
The lack of energy showed early and often on the defensive end. KU players got caught ball watching, leading to open Baylor shots. BU would set hard screens, but Kansas failed to communicate and it caused some hard collisions.
Not to mention, the Jayhawks didn’t get in the airspace of Baylor shooters. The Bears shot 7-for-16 (43.8%) from three in the first half.
On the offensive end, too often Kansas players without the ball stood around the perimeter instead of cutting and relocating for open shots.
Often times, KU got away with a bad offensive process due to tough-shot making by Wilson. The forward scored 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the floor in the first half.
A bounce-back game for Gradey Dick
After two straight rough-shooting games, KU’s top three-point marksman bounced back big time.
The freshman guard showcased his three-level scoring. He scored from everywhere on the floor. Dick scored 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting and grabbed four rebounds.
When Dick is hitting his shots, it opens up the entire floor for KU and gives the team a much needed secondary scorer to Wilson. When the freshman is cold, KU’s offense turns one-dimensional, which leads to desperation-type shots, often by Wilson.
KU’s offensive ceiling hinges on Dick scoring consistently.
KU’s rebounding issues persist
More often than not, Kansas is usually the smaller team in the matchup, especially when the Jayhawks move Wilson to center, as they did late in Monday’s game.
Sometimes KU gets away with it by making an effort to box out and rebounding as a team. That wasn’t the case on Monday.
It felt like every time the Jayhawks seemed to gain momentum, they would be out of position or fail to box out. The Bears outrebounded KU 35-33, but the biggest margin came on the offensive glass, where Baylor had 17 rebounds to Kansas’ eight.
BU had 16 second-chance points compared to KU’s four.
The Jayhawks had high turnovers (15 overall), but the rebounds allowed the Bears to have a significant advantage in shot attempts. BU had 62 shot attempts to the Jayhawks’ 52 .
