WACO, Texas (AP) — Frank Mason III scored 19 points and Landen Lucas had the tiebreaking layup as No. 2 Kansas won its eighth straight game, moving closer to a 12th consecutive Big 12 title with a 66-60 victory at No. 19 Baylor on Tuesday night.
The Jayhawks (24-4, 12-3) trailed by as many as eight points after halftime before a 9-0 run to take the lead. After the game was tied for the eighth time, at 55-all, Lucas had a putback with 3:03 left to put them ahead to stay.
Perry Ellis added 15 points for Kansas, which has a two-game lead over No. 14 West Virginia in the Big 12 standings with three league games remaining. Devonte Graham had 11 points and Lucas had five points and 10 rebounds.
Al Freeman led Baylor (20-8, 9-6) with 17 points, including four 3-pointers. Taurean Prince had 12 points.
Along with the eight ties, there were 17 lead changes in the game.
The Bears were ahead 45-37, which would equal their largest lead, on Ish Wainright's 3-pointer on a possession set up when he had a steal — basically taking the ball out of Jamari Traylor's hands and getting the ball back after a couple of passes.
Kansas led for the first time in the second half when Traylor had consecutive baskets, the second with 10:16 left in the half making it 48-47.
There were a couple more lead changes after that — a 3 by Graham that put the Jayhawks up 51-49 with 8:48 left before Baylor went back ahead on a 3 by Freeman with 8:05 left. Then there was a long gap when neither team scored.
Mason's jumper ended a 4 1/2-minute scoring drought by the Jayhawks, and then Baylor got its first basket in nearly 4 minutes when Freeman hit another 3.
The Bears led 36-33 at halftime on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Rico Gathers, their 6-foot-8 senior forward whose first career attempt from beyond the arc came on his 836th shot in his 135th game. That was the 10th lead change in the first half, when there were also six ties.
Baylor had less than 2 seconds to go the length of the court after Wayne Selden's turnover. Wainright's pass ended up in the hands of Gathers in the left corner in front of the Kansas bench. His teammates ran to him to celebrate, and Gathers was still excitedly pounding his chest going into locker room after knocking down someone who was standing at the entrance to the tunnel.
TIP-INS
Kansas: The Jayhawks missed six of their first seven shots, but made 11 of their next 18 before halftime. They shot 50 percent (23 of 46) in the game. ... Kansas has a 26-4 series lead, including 11-2 at Waco and seven straight wins overall. ... The Jayhawks have reached 24 wins for the 11th consecutive season.
Baylor: Baylor is 0-16 all-time against the No. 1 or No. 2 teams, including 0-3 this season. ... The Bears are 56-21 since Feb. 12, 2014, a stretch when 15 of those losses have been away from home and 14 are to ranked teams.
UP NEXT
Kansas hosts Texas Tech on Saturday.
Baylor at TCU on Saturday night.