The Big 12 Tournament semifinals were set to be a doozy, with some of the hottest teams in the nation in action. In the first game of the double-header, the conference champion Kansas Jayhawks took on the hottest team in the Big 12, Baylor, who had won six of their last seven games. Despite their hot streak, however, KU continued their dominance over Baylor, defeating them for the third time this season, by a margin of 62-52.
Much has been made recently of Kansas' intense three-point shooting woes, despite the fact that they keep winning games. The Jayhawks set the pace early on Friday evening with consecutive threes, including a rare one by the returning Perry Ellis. With their long-distance woes already in the rear view mirror, KU was able to play their style of game without the stigma and pressure of poor shooting from downtown. It was actually a highly competitive and back and forth first half, as Scott Drew's team tried their hardest to not fall to the Jayhawks for the third time on the season. The Bears held the lead three times in the opening half, however none of these advantages last for longer than 51 seconds. After a quick run to end the half, Kansas went into the break up by eight.
The big story of the game, even more so than the hot streak of Baylor and the return of Kansas' top scorer, Perry Ellis, was the de facto coming out party for Wayne Selden, Jr. The former highly-touted recruit has struggled for large portions of his sophomore campaign, often looking somewhat lost on the floor while mired in slumps. Friday night was a huge change for the Roxbury, Massachusetts product, as he led the Jayhawks in both points and rebounds. Baylor was never able to close the gap, as the teams spent a large part of the half exchanging even possessions. The lead reached as high as 13 at the final media timeout, and when the final horn sounded, the Kansas Jayhawks had a 10 point advantage over the Baylor Bears, 62-52.
As a team, Baylor did not have a good shooting night Friday at the Sprint Center. The Bears only shot 32.8% from the floor, while only converting 4/22 shots from 3-point land (18.2%). Senior guard Kenny Cherry led the Bears in scoring with 20, also contributing 5 rebounds. Rico Gathers finished the game with a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 13 boards. Al Freeman came off the bench to lead Baylor in assists with two.
As has already been mentioned, Wayne Selden, Jr. was the top performer of the night for the Jayhawks. He led KU in points and rebounds with 20 and 8, respectively. In his return to action, Perry Ellis started and finished with 11 points in 26 minutes on 4/11 shooting. Frank Mason III scored eight points, all in the second half, and also led Kansas in assists, dishing out four dimes on the evening.
Baylor put together a very strong run at the end of the season, and they will be looking to continue it once the NCAA Tournament starts this coming week. It would not have been surprising to see Baylor win if they had a better matchup in this semifinal of the big 12 Tournament. However, the Bears do not match up well with Kansas, and Bill Self has owned Scott Drew in their respective careers (Self now has a 16-3 edge head-to-head against Drew). Kansas is getting hot at just the right time, and they have a chance to continue their momentum in the Big 12 Tournament final. They likely have cemented themselves as a #2 seed in the big dance this year, but a win over rival Iowa State in the final would be a huge confidence boost headed into the NCAA Tournament.