BAYLOR 71, KANSAS 64

Game Over

Thursday's surprising first-round loss can be explained thusly: Kansas missed shots down the stretch.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Basketball vs. Baylor

A photo gallery of the men's basketball game against Baylor in the second round game during the Big 12 tournament.

Forget the 17-point first-half deficit because the Jayhawks have done that before. But in those games, Sherron Collins and Co. recovered with clutch shots in the final minutes. Today, Collins fired up an airball at a crucial time and none of his teammates could pick up the slack.

This wasn't completely unexpected, but it's still a huge blow to Kansas' psyche as it waits until Sunday to find out where it will play in the NCAA Tournament.

BAYLOR 65, KANSAS 64

1:51 left in the second half

I thought Baylor would do into hibernation after Reed put Kansas ahead. Instead, the Bears burst back with a few buckets while the Jayhawks went ice cold.

Self's crew recovered with consecutive three-pointers, and now here we are. Less than two minutes remain and one point splits these teams.

Kansas is playing for a first round in Kansas City, while Baylor is playing for its season. This is going to be good.

KANSAS 58, BAYLOR 55

7:46 left in the second half

Kansas can always count on Tyrel Reed to hit an important three-pointer. Today Reed's three with 9:39 remaining put Kansas on top 54-51. It was the Jayhawks first lead since they started the game up 1-0.

Marcus Morris followed Reed's three with buckets on consecutive possessions, and now Kansas looks to be in complete control of this game. It always felt like we were just waiting for Kansas to get over the hump. Now that it has, I don't expect any more lead changes.

BAYLOR 37, KANSAS 33

Halftime

All the good feelings around Baylor have disappeared at halftime.

Tyshawn Taylor scored his 10th point on a three-pointer with seven seconds left to cut Baylor's once-large lead down to four. On top of that, Sherron Collins is just 1-of-8 in the first half. He rarely shoots that poorly for an entire game.

I heard a lot of excitement for this tournament in the last couple of weeks, but now that I'm here I just don't feel it. The environment will be completely different when Oklahoma and Oklahoma State square off later today, but this morning this building is dead.

BAYLOR 32, KANSAS 24

3:36 left in the first half

Hopefully you never panicked because Baylor's lead never reached 20 points. Obviously 17 wasn't too much for Kansas as the Jayhawks have already cut the deficit to eight.

Looks like Baylor will be clinging to a four-point lead at best heading into halftime.

BAYLOR 26, KANSAS 13

7:52 left in the first half

Reed is still trying to stick on Dunn. The result? Dunn is leading all scorers with 11 points.

Brady Morningstar has struggled as a defender lately (with the exception of the Texas game) but he's always a better option than Reed.

Offensively, the Jayahwks aren't shooting terribly but they are an ugly 0-for-4 behind the three-point line.

BAYLOR 21, KANSAS 9

11:48 left in the first half

Dunn, the co-Sixth Man of the Year in the Big 12, is relishing in his new role as a starter. Yesterday, Dunn started for the fourth time this season and scored 18 points. Today he leads the way with eight points thus far.

For whatever reason, Kansas coach Bill Self was putting Tyrel Reed on him. Dunn will go for 30 if Reed continues to guard him all game.

BAYLOR 13, KANSAS 5

15:22 left in the first half

That's exactly the type of start Baylor needed. Its guards (Curtis Jerrells and LaceDarius Dunn) have combined for 11 points and Kansas isn't hitting much of anything yet.

Of course, we've seen this before. In fact, this is the same routine we've seen almost every time the Jayhawks play a Big 12 game away from Allen Fieldhouse. If the lead gets to 20, then it's time to panic.

11:30 a.m.

Prediction time.

I've detailed a couple ways Baylor can win this game. For Kansas, it's pretty simple: just play.

The Jayhawks have plenty of talent to take care of business today, it's just a question of execution.

I'm not sure that Kansas is going to win this tournament, but I'm very confident that it will get to the second round. Baylor hangs around til halftime, then Sherron Collins puts it away.

Mark me down for an 80-68 Kansas victory.

11:20 a.m.

What will it take for Baylor to win today? Two things need to happen:

1. Curtis Jerrells must be as efficient from the floor as he was against Nebraska. In these teams last meeting, Jerrells was a hideous 0-of-7 from the floor. Yesterday, however, he hit 8-of-10 and led all scorers with 19 points. The Bears offense opens up so much more when Jerrells is able to get into the lane and create easy shots.

2. Kansas must play like it's a road game. The Jayhawks are easily the more-talented team, but they've had serious trouble on the road (with the notable exception of Waco). The only way Baylor hangs around is if Kansas comes out soft, like it has in multiple games this season.

11:10 a.m.

It's snowing outside but the Ford Center is heating up as we prepare for the first round of the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City.

In the opening round yesterday, Baylor dispatched Nebraska will relative ease to advance into today's game against Kansas. The Bears were the most disappointing team in the Big 12 this season because they were expected to finish third, but lost 10 of their last 12 games.

Still, when they play well — as they did yesterday — the Bears are a formidable team that matches up well with Kansas.

The biggest question is which Baylor team will show up?