Baylor’s Henry Dugat intercepted Sherron Collins’ pass and all Cole Aldrich could do was look on. It was unexpected, but Baylor upset top-seeded Kansas and left KU fans in attendance at the Ford Center in awe.

Despite managing to come back after trailing by 17 at one point, the Jayhawks came up short. In the end, post play was the biggest factor in the game. Baylor’s big men put on a better performance than Cole Aldrich and the Morris twins.

Aldrich ended the game with eight points and took only five shots from the field. Kansas coach Bill Self could tell Aldrich was struggling through the game.

“He labored probably as much as he has at any point in time this year,” Self said.

It wasn’t a good day for Aldrich to be off, because Baylor’s Kevin Rogers and Mamadou Diene played extremely well.

Rogers was coming off a 20-rebound effort against Nebraska in the opening round. He continued his hot streak with 14 points and five rebounds, but Diene had the more impressive performance. After playing only three minutes against Nebraska, Diene played 25 minutes against Kansas, scored nine points and blocked five shots.

Self said that Diene played fabulously and that that was one reason KU struggled. Baylor coach Scott Drew felt the same and understood Diene’s motivation.

“I think that’s a senior not wanting to play his last game,” Drew said.

Baylor’s post players played with an intensity that KU couldn’t keep up with. Even when Rogers missed an alley-oop dunk, he almost brought the rim down. That energy was never apparent in KU’s post play as the Morris twins continued to settle for jumpers and layups and Aldrich battled just to get a shot off.

Nothing seemed to go the Jayhawks’ way on Thursday. Three-point shots weren’t falling; the team shot 32 percent from behind the arc in the game. Sherron Collins shot one of eight from the floor.

The post play was the most shocking though. Diene averages 1.6 points per game and turned in a performance to rival that of Aldrich. Freshman Marcus Morris turned in a solid effort with 12 points, but no one else did much.

The turning point may have come with just under eight minutes left in the game when Diene blocked Collins’ layup. Self called it the “biggest block in the game”. Yes, the biggest block in the game didn’t come from Aldrich, Big 12 co-defensive player of the year; it came from Diene.

Kansas can’t win every Big 12 tournament championship though. The fact that the team entered the tournament as the number-one seed is a testament to its skill and it will get another chance to prove that in the NCAA tournament.

— —Edited by Liz Schubauer