Kansas center David McCormack came to the rescue in the first half of Saturday’s rematch with Baylor when he scored 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting to get the no. 17 Jayhawks 33-30 ahead of unbeaten No. 2 carriers at halftime. Allen Fieldhouse of the KU. McCormack struggled with just six points in the first meeting, which Baylor won 77-69 on Jan. 18, but he has been more consistent ever since and suffered an otherwise sluggish offense in the first half of Saturday.
Kansas still has work to do in the second half if he wants to be the first team to beat Baylor. The Bears trailed 13-6 early in their second game due to a 21-day layoff between games. Bayer’s Flo Thamba scored nine points on 4-of-4 shooting in the first half to counter McCormack’s efficiency in the paint and to lead Baylor out of his early function.
Kansas entered the event that was named No. 5 by Jerry Palm in the latest Bracketology series, but the Jayhawks have never been lower than No. 4 under 18-year-old coach Bill Self give big boost by upset. Baylor is projected as a number 1 seed.