Wayne Selden Jr. and the Kansas Jayhawks started conference play against the Baylor Bears on Saturday, and they put the conference on notice as they man-handled the 23rd ranked team in the country, 102-74.

The Jayhawks are the defending Big 12 champs and they absolutely dominated the Bears as they look to repeat.

Kansas Sacked Baylor From The Start

With the top ranked Michigan State Spartans losing on the road to the Iowa Hawkeyes Tuesday night, the second ranked Kansas Jayhawks had a big opportunity Saturday against the Baylor Bears to become the number one team with a win. Instead of a close home victory, this game was an absolute blowout by Kansas, who started the game on a 24-4 run and never looked back.

With the win, the Jayhawks are probably the number one team in the AP poll, and may potentially battle the number two team in the nation on Monday if the third ranked Oklahoma Sooners can defeat the 11th ranked Iowa State Cyclones Saturday night.

Jayhawks Were Unconscious From Deep

The Jayhawks offense has been excellent this season, and they were absolutely on point against the Bears. They scored 102 points against a normally good Bears defense, shooting the lights out from everywhere on the floor. 

Kansas shot 53.7 percent from the field, but most notably shot a blistering 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from behind the arc. The team also put up 40 points in the paint to show that they were simply scoring at will from everywhere on the floor. The Jayhawks are a top 10 scoring team (87.2 PPG) and averaged 18.5 assists per contest entering the game. Baylor's usually stifling zone defense was exposed as the Jayhawks killed them from behind the arc.

Wayne Selden Jr. led all scorers with 24 points (9-of-16), five rebounds and four assists. Selden Jr. hit five three-pointers in the game, and during that run to start the game he scored 11 of 24 points. Perry Ellis finished the game with 17 points and six rebounds, while Devonte' Graham added 15 points, four assists and three steals.

If this is a sign of things to come for the Jayhawks, then this team very well could win the Big 12 once again and make the Final Four. Kansas always has high expectations but this team is a different monster. Oklahoma, be ready. Kansas is finally an elite team again.

Baylor Couldn't Execute On Offense

Despite always being known strictly as a defensive team, Baylor came into the game averaging 81.8 points per game. However, Kansas' defense held this team to 74 points on 39 percent shooting. The Bears also came into this contest leading the country in assists per game (22.7), but they only accumulated eight and turned the ball over 12 times.

Taurean Prince led the Bears in scoring with 17 points. He was only 2-of-6 from the field but was able to take advantage of the free throw line, making all 12 of his attempts. Lester Medford finished with 15 points and Rico Gathers added 12 points and nine rebounds.

The Baylor Bears are still a good team, and very much a team that can be a top five or six seed in the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, this is not a very good shooting team, meaning their paint play and defense needed to be at their best for Baylor to pull off an upset. In this game, it did not happen, and Baylor was crushed from start to finish. The Bears probably do not have enough multi-dimensional talent to win the Big 12, but this team can still be a force to be reckoned with. The game was more about the Jayhawks becoming even better as opposed to what Baylor could not do. Expect Baylor to at least finish in the top five of the Big 12 standings.

Up Next:

Kansas: hosts Oklahoma on Monday night on ESPN

Baylor: Hosts Oklahoma State Tuesday