Play this game 28 years ago and Kansas would have put Baylor away from the beginning and cruised to an easy 100-78 victory.

But in between now and then, the basketball Gods decided to implement a three-point line. And not many games since have better illustrated the difference it can make than Kansas’ 100-90 victory against Baylor Saturday.

The Bears made 12 three-pointers, accounting for 40% of their total points. The Jayhawks didn’t hit a single shot beyond the arc.

“That’s unbelievable,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “That’s not going to happen very often.”

To Kansas, Baylor was the gum on the shoe, the bothersome fruit-fly or the persistent street-side beggar: it just wouldn’t go away. It stemmed from their efficiency from the outside.

Baylor junior guard Curtis Jerrells gave Kansas a sneak-peak of what was to come early in the game when he hit three three-pointers in less than four minutes. Jerrells, who scored 30 points overall and was 4-for-8 from three-point range, made his 1,000th career point in the game. If he shoots as well from long-range as he did Saturday, he might score 2,000 more in the next year and a half.

Jerrels’ teammate, freshman LaceDarius Dunn, however, was the one making circus-like shots. Dunn connected on a deep three in the second half to tie the game despite being fouled by Kansas junior guard Brandon Rush. With little time remaining, he threw up a what-the-heck deep basket falling over that found the hoop and kept Baylor alive.

He finished 5-for-10 from three with a handful of ridiculous baskets. It looked like Dunn could have hit shots blindfolded or with a hand tied behind his back.

Legitimate or not, the shots kept Baylor in the game. Every time Kansas seemed to take control by piecing together a run, it blew away like a tissue in the wind with another three falling for the Bears.

The mere 10-point victory undermines what Self called the best offensive performance of the year for the Jayhawks. Sophomore guard Sherron Collins scored 17 points, the most he had in more than a month, by ferociously attacking the basket. Kansas amazingly only committed one turnover in the second half. But an 0-for-9 performance from three-point range kept the Jayhawks from running away from the Bears.

“The game just was going so fast,” Collins said. “We didn’t really realize we didn’t hit a three at all.”

It’s all fun and games for Kansas because it hit the century-mark in points the old-fashioned way: getting close to the basket and finishing. But its drought on three-point shots will be anything but funny if it finds its way to Austin, Texas tonight.

Longhorn guards D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams won’t let Collins blow past them. Texas forward Damion James won’t sit idly by and watch Kansas forward Darrell Arthur score 23 points as he did Saturday. Rush can’t be 0-for-4 from three if the Jayhawks expect to beat the Longhorns.

Kansas broke a streak of 270 straight games with at least one three pointer Saturday. It needs to start a new streak tonight.