KANSAS CITY, Kansas (AP) — Coach Bill Self kept his sense of humor after the No. 11 Jayhawks suffered their biggest lead in a loss in program history, losing to Baylor 81-70.
The Jayhawks blew a 21-point lead with minutes left in the game, despite having a 20-0 edge in bench scoring at halftime. The stunning reversal topped the previous 20-point lead Kansas blew to Arizona in 2003.
Self attributed the loss to oranges provided by Baylor at halftime, joking that they might have been the reason for their poor performance in the second half. He also mentioned the tough environment in the locker room where he didn’t say much and decided not to give any pep talks.
Baylor’s freshman Robert Wright III scored 20 of his 24 points after halftime, including a game-tying three-pointer with four minutes remaining. The Bears completed their comeback without injured leading scorer VJ Edgecombe.
Self expressed concern about the team’s performance, saying that it was indicative of how the entire second half went. Despite having fewer turnovers than Baylor, Kansas was outscored 24-11 in points off turnovers and shot just 36% in the second half.
The Jayhawks struggled to get consistent scoring from anyone else besides Hunter Dickinson, who scored 20 points. Self noted that both teams were as good as they were in the first half and as bad as they were in the second half.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/kansas-collapse-bill-self-08b8779f823b688d1b897ba9c5236c9c