Zion Tech Group

KU suffers largest blown lead in a loss in school history against Baylor

Written by

Kleber Alcatrao

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AP Photo/Jerry Larson

Kansas center Hunter Dickinson and Baylor forward Norchad Omier reach for a loose ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Waco, Texas.

Waco, Texas — After several of its recent victories necessitated late rallies, the Kansas men’s basketball team found itself in the unfamiliar position of playing from ahead in the second half on Saturday afternoon.

Perhaps the Jayhawks would have been more comfortable trying to string together another comeback.

After leading by as many as 21 points in the first half, KU conceded a 26-6 run to open the second — then another stretch of 17 straight points when it had briefly recovered its composure and gone up double digits again.

“I never felt like we had momentum in the second half,” KU coach Bill Self said.

The result was the biggest comeback KU has ever allowed in a loss. Baylor’s rally from down 38-17 with less than two minutes to go in the first half replaces a 20-point blown lead against Arizona in 2003. The Bears beat the 11th-ranked Jayhawks 81-70 at Foster Pavilion, their fifth straight time defeating KU in Waco.

“The difference was they scored 21 points in the first half and they scored 60 in the second,” center Hunter Dickinson said. “I don’t think you’ll ever beat a team allowing them to score 60 points in a half. I think that’s pretty hard to overcome even if you have a 19-point lead going into halftime.”

Baylor pulled off the miracle, doubling up KU in the second half, despite having precious few players at its disposal. It was already playing with a tight rotation in the ongoing absence of guards Langston Love (ankle soreness) and Jeremy Roach (concussion), and it got even tighter when freshman VJ Edgecombe suffered a lower-body injury early in the second half and Jayden Nunn and Norchad Omier got in foul trouble.

“We should have been more aggressive towards the guys who had four fouls, because they were key guys, and I think that’s on the players,” Dickinson said. “We got to be more aggressive trying to get downhill, trying to make contact.”

Added Self: “We wanted to drive it. Obviously, I’m not going to say they weren’t going to guard us but they weren’t going to foul us. So naturally in that situation you got to drive the ball. We didn’t do a good job of that, at all. But we also had some finishes that should be baskets every time and we came up with nothing several times.”

KU returned to nearly full strength with KJ Adams still in the fold (though coming off the bench, a rarity for him in recent seasons) and Dajuan Harris Jr. in the starting lineup after missing his first-ever game with an ankle injury. The lone missing player was freshman Rakease Passmore, who has received sporadic moments of playing time in recent weeks but did not make the trip to Waco after he got concussed in practice on Thursday, Self said on pregame radio.

After Edgecombe led the way for Baylor early, fellow freshman Robert O. Wright III picked up the slack, leading all scorers with 24 points. Omier added 18 with 16 rebounds and Jalen Celestine hit four critical 3-pointers, all in the second half.

“They were as good as we were in the first half, plus,” Self said of the second-half showing. “And we were as bad as they were in the first half, plus. Just kind of a tale of two halves.”

Dickinson was the only consistent offensive threat for KU, scoring 20 points. Harris tallied 12 with eight assists.

The Jayhawks did not take advantage of a series of open looks from beyond the arc in the opening minutes. Dickinson scored four of KU’s first five field goals — not necessarily in his usual fashion, as they came on three jumpers and a floater.

Rylan Griffen provided a spark in his initial action, sinking a no-hesitation 3-pointer and then finishing an alley-oop from Harris to put KU up 15-9 and force a timeout by the Bears.

They had to call another one not long afterward, because David Coit hit back-to-back stepback 3s off the bench and Flory Bidunga stole the ball from Celestine for a transition dunk.

By the time Josh Ojianwuna scored in the post with eight minutes and 51 seconds left in the first half, KU had gone on an 18-1 run.

The Jayhawks didn’t do much to take advantage of a string of Baylor turnovers, and Edgecombe ended a lengthy drought for the Bears with their first 3-pointer of the game to cut KU’s advantage to 30-15.

At halftime, the Jayhawks led 40-21. Edgecombe went 4-for-7 from the field prior to the break compared to a 4-for-22 mark for all of his teammates combined.

“We were pretty confident at halftime,” Dickinson said. “We felt like we did a really good job of guarding their sets and really forcing some bad shots and we were playing off that.”

That dynamic changed quickly after halftime, when Baylor scored seven straight points, including five from Omier, to necessitate an immediate timeout by Self.

“I think that we just didn’t come out in the second half with any energy,” Griffen said. “That’s something that we got to fix for sure for the rest of the season.”

Wright got in on the scoring, and Baylor stormed back to cut its deficit all the way to six points on back-to-back 3s by Celestine, aided by missed free throws by Harris.

The Jayhawks turned the ball over immediately out of a timeout and allowed Edgecombe’s first bucket of the second half; however, Edgecombe limped down the tunnel with an apparent injury almost immediately afterward.

Baylor had a potential go-ahead bucket by Ojianwuna wiped out by traveling, but the Bears took the lead on a pair of free throws by Wright with 13:03 to go.

“I think in the second half we just did not get stops,” Dickinson said. “I don’t remember a time where we got two-in-a-row stops.”

The Jayhawks responded, at long last, with Zeke Mayo’s first bucket of the day off an offensive rebound by Adams, and then a three-point play by Harris.

Adams put the Jayhawks back up 10 points off an assist by Mayo with just over nine minutes remaining, only for Celestine to hit another 3 out of a timeout.

After Dickinson missed the front end of a one-and-one, Omier and Wright made two free throws each, cutting KU’s lead to 63-61 with five minutes to go. Then Wright responded to a missed jump shot by Adams with a floater to tie the game, and Celestine hit a go-ahead 3 to give Baylor what was then its largest lead of the day — three points.

“He wore us out the second half,” Self said of Wright. “We had no answer for him.”

The margin grew bigger and bigger as the Jayhawks failed to muster any offense of note. Mayo’s off-balance shot with 2:13 to go ended a scoreless period of four minutes and 44 seconds.

Dickinson fouled out after two late fouls in a 22-second span.

The Jayhawks will face a quick turnaround as they head back to Lawrence to host Iowa State on Monday at 8 p.m. The Cyclones, ranked No. 3 in the country, suffered a shock loss of their own to Kansas State, 80-61, on Saturday afternoon. ISU previously beat KU at Hilton Coliseum, 74-57, on Jan. 15.

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