The Kansas Jayhawks’ regular season ended in disastrous fashion, as the
team was blown out by Baylor 81-58. Despite suffering its worst loss in seven
years, Kansas was able to win a ninth consecutive Big 12 championship due to
Kansas State’s loss to Oklahoma State earlier in the day.
Baylor easily played its best game of the season against Kansas, and
was carried by two insane performances from Pierre Jackson and Cory Jefferson.
Jackson scored 28 points with 10 assists, while Jefferson added 25 points.
Jefferson, who had never hit a three pointer in his career, went
three-for-three from behind the arc on Saturday, which puts the Bears’
performance into perspective.
Kansas not only struggled defensively, but the Jayhawks never got anything
going on offense. Ben McLemore had a strong game, but Elijah Johnson struggled,
shooting 3 of 13 from the field and adding only two assists next to three
turnovers. Apart from McLemore, the lone bright spot for the Jayhawks was
freshman Perry Ellis, who added 12 points.
Before Saturday, the Jayhawks had looked like the best team in college
basketball recently. Kansas had won seven in a row, including a home blowout of
K-State and two tough road wins against Oklahoma State and Iowa State. The
Jayhawks still have the talent to go deep in the NCAA tournament, but they will
have to get better play from Johnson. When the senior point guard plays well,
Kansas is nearly unbeatable. Johnson played very well in last year’s NCAA
tournament, which was a big reason why the Jayhawks advanced all the way to the
national title game.
Up next for Kansas is the Big 12 tournament, where the Jayhawks will
once again have the top seed. Kansas will face the West Virginia-Texas Tech
winner on Thursday. If the Jayhawks defeat the Mountaineers or Red Raiders,
they will face either Oklahoma or Iowa State.
KCMB Kansas City News, official kc news site with breaking stories on The Kansas City Royals, Chiefs, charity events, the 2012 MLB All Star Game, weather, sports, MU, KU, ufo sightings, dui checkpoints, Kansas City neighborhoods, nightlife, concerts, the Sprint Center, the Power and Light District and current Kansas City news articles.