No. 12 Kansas holds off No. 21 Baylor
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Waco, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Jamari Traylor scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting as No. 12 Kansas opened Big 12 play with a 56-55 victory over 21st- ranked Baylor on Wednesday.
Brannen Greene scored 12 points off the bench and Frank Mason III netted 11 with five assists for the Jayhawks (12-2, 1-0 Big 12), who have won 24 straight conference openers dating back to the 1991-92 season.
"You always want to make shots, but statistically they are great at defending the 3-ball," Kansas head coach Bill Self said. "We thought that we were going to be able to get the ball into the middle of the paint and get flat and attack them that way."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kenny Chery had a game-high 25 points and Rico Gathers supplied nine points and 13 rebounds for the Bears (11-3, 0-2), who were coming off a 73-63 loss to Oklahoma on Saturday.
"I loved the team's effort and fight," Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. "It was a great Big 12 game. We have to get better. That's the good thing about the Big 12, it's on to the next one."
Wayne Selden Jr. scored seven points in a row for the Jayhawks as they took a 54-51 lead on his layup with 1:19 to play. Chery's jumper moments later pulled Baylor within a point.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Chery emerged out of a frantic scrum in the key on a Mason miss, but Royce O'Neale had his layup attempt blocked by Perry Ellis at the other end and Gathers missed on the tip-in. Baylor, however, got the ball back with 10 seconds to play after it last hit off a Kansas player out of bounds.
Chery's inbounds pass was tipped by Kelly Oubre Jr. and it was ruled that Baylor last touched the ball before it sailed into the crowd. Greene and Chery each followed with a pair of free throws for their respective teams.
Baylor worked the ball up the court after Mason missed a free throw with three seconds left, but Lester Medford lost track of the time and didn't even put up a shot before the horn sounded.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Bears jumped out to a 7-2 lead early on and Taurean Prince drilled a 3- pointer for a 15-9 advantage just over eight minutes into the game.
Greene's triple got Kansas within a point with 8:32 to play, but Chery responded with a trey of his own and Prince's layup made it a 20-14 game two minutes later.
Gathers made a pair from the foul line and the Bears led 22-18 at the half.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
Kansas leads the all-time series 22-4 ... Baylor's 12-game home winning streak came to an end. It was the Bears' first loss at home since falling 69-52 to Kansas on Feb. 4, 2014 ... The Jayhawks are now 8-0 at home this season ... Kansas shot 47.1 percent from the field compared to Baylor's 34 percent ... The Jayhawks will host Texas Tech on Saturday ... Baylor will travel to TCU on Saturday.