Baylor sends top-seeded Kansas home early
Kansas sophomore center Cole Aldrich watches in anguish as the Baylor Bears stun the Jayhawks 71-64 in Thursday's quarterfinal at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- For a second, it all looked too perfect.
Down three with under a minute remaining, Kansas guard Sherron Collins curled at the top of the right side of the key and pulled up for three. If you didn’t know any better, it might pass for an exact replica of the shot Kansas guard Mario Chalmers hit to send last year’s national championship into overtime.
Only, in Thursday’s Big 12 Championship quarterfinal between No. 1 Kansas and No. 9 Baylor, Collins’ shot didn’t hit all net. In fact, it hit nothing at all. Collins’ airball eventually went out of bounds to Baylor.
The Bears tacked on four more points, eventually upsetting the Jayhawks, 71-64, and advancing to Friday’s semifinal.
Baylor led by as many as 17 points in the first half, but found themselves facing a 5-point deficit late in the second half.
“We got down five and basically could have packed it in,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “But we didn’t. We kept fighting.”
The game’s headliner was Baylor sophomore LaceDarius Dunn, who went 9-of-16 from the field for 24 points. After being recently named Co-Sixth Man of the Year by the Big 12, Dunn got the start and came up huge in doing so.
“We just went out there with a chip on our shoulder,” Dunn said of his team’s performance against Kansas after failing to meet expectations all season.
The Bears also got a surprise contribution from senior center Mamadou Diene. Diene had 11 total points for Baylor during conference play, but added nine points and five blocks, keeping star Kansas center Cole Aldrich contained.
“He stepped up in a big way today,” senior guard Henry Dugat said.
Although Kansas had three players in double figures, the Jayhawks never looked completely in rhythm. Collins led Kansas with 16 points, but couldn't connect on his fateful final shot.
Baylor will face the winner of No. 4 Kansas State and No. 5 Texas, set to tip off shortly.
“When you’ve got a lot of seniors who want to go out in style, they’re going to be a tough out,” Drew said of his basketball team.
