Road Win Positions Kansas Basketball For A Big 12 Title Push

It was just one step, but it was a big step. Last night's win at Baylor represented a victory in one of the two more challenging road trips left on the Jayhawk schedule. The other would of course be the upcoming Big Monday matchup against Kansas State in Manhattan.

On the heels of a loss to Missouri which seemed to put the Jayhawks in a precarious position, Kansas responded by completing the sweep of one of the two teams currently in competition with the Jayhawks for the Big 12 crown. Now Kansas plays host to Oklahoma State on Saturday before heading into a stretch run that includes that road trip to Kansas State, a return trip by the Tigers to Lawrence and a pair of interesting road matchups against Texas A&M and Oklahoma State.

The fact of the matter is that the Jayhawks had the good fortune early on in conference play of having an easier draw. The schedule was front loaded so Kansas jumped out to an early lead in the league race while Baylor and Missouri did a very solid job of managing what was probably a more difficult path in the early going. That meant that Missouri's win over Kansas, who had just recently lost to Iowa State, was a big one.

With the Tigers and Jayhawks even after last Saturday's matchup it was pretty easy to point to the Jayhawks next game against Baylor as a big one. Lose that one and Kansas faced an almost must win in Manhattan and they couldn't afford another slip up if they wanted to keep pace with Missouri.

With a dominating win in Waco it makes this one look like a two team race. Baylor heads to Columbia on Saturday and the Tigers are very difficult to beat at home. Assuming a win for Missouri and the Bears fall to four losses while Kansas and Missouri both sit with just two. At that point we're talking about these two teams just needing to handle business and the pieces are in place for a huge finale to the Border War in Lawrence.

The crazy thing in all of this is that there are still seven games to go in league play for both teams. With a full round robin the league race is extended by two games and perhaps we've yet to see what that grind will do to the contenders down the stretch.

For Kansas it's a schedule consisting of four home games including Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas and the big one against Missouri. The Jayhawks will still go on the road to Manhattan, Stillwater and College Station. All manageable games but the Wildcats will be ready for Kansas and Stillwater has been a stumbling block on more than once occasion for Bill Self.

For Missouri's part they host Baylor on Saturday as mentioned. The Tigers also have home games against Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Iowa State. On the road the Tigers will face Kansas Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Barring an upset at home, which doesn't seem likely with this Missouri team, it could come down to the game in Lawrence if Missouri wants to win the league outright.

For Kansas it's far from an easy path, but last night was the first big hurdle and one that Bill Self and his Jayhawks managed to clear with relative ease.

The Kansas Jayhawks trailed early but took control early in the second half and never looked back defeating the Baylor Bears 68-54. The win completes the home-and-home sweep of the Bears by the Jayhawks who improve to 19-5 on the season.

The Kansas frontcourt once again outplayed Baylor's with center Jeff Withey leading the way. Withey scored 17 of his 25 points in the first half to lead the Jayhawks. Tyshawn Taylor added 19 points and three assists while Thomas Robinson added another double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Pierre Jackson led Baylor with 16 points and four assists while Cory Jefferson also finished in double figures with 11. Quincy Acy added 10 points and eight boards. Perry Jones III was held to just five points on 1-8 shooting and was hardly a factor.

For more on this game Kansas fans should head over to Rock Chalk Talk and Baylor fans should check out Our Daily Bears. For more college basketball news and analysis head on over to SB Nation's College Basketball page.

The Kansas Jayhawks have received a huge contribution from an unexpected source, as Jeff Withey has posted 17 points in the first half versus the Baylor Bears as Bill Self's team leads 33-30 in Waco, Texas.

Perry Jones III has 8 points and Quincy Acy has 7 in the first half as both teams have slowed the game down by playing tough defense as the Big 12 conference title race hangs in the balance. The Jayhawks top two players, Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor have been held to just ten points total. In their last contest the two combined for 55 points in a 92-74 win in Lawrence.

The winner of this game will go to 9-2 in the Big 12 and keep pace with Missouri on top of the conference standings.

For more on this game Kansas fans should head over to Rock Chalk Talk and Baylor fans should check out Our Daily Bears. For more college basketball news and analysis head on over to SB Nation's College Basketball page.

The Kansas Jayhawks have received a huge contribution from an unexpected source, as Jeff Withey has posted 17 points in the first half versus the Baylor Bears as Bill Self's team leads 33-30 in Waco, Texas.

Perry Jones III has 8 points and Quincy Acy has 7 in the first half as both teams have slowed the game down by playing tough defense as the Big 12 conference title race hangs in the balance. The Jayhawks top two players, Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor have been held to just ten points total. In their last contest the two combined for 55 points in a 92-74 win in Lawrence.

The winner of this game will go to 9-2 in the Big 12 and keep pace with Missouri on top of the conference standings.

For more on this game Kansas fans should head over to Rock Chalk Talk and Baylor fans should check out Our Daily Bears. For more college basketball news and analysis head on over to SB Nation's College Basketball page.

Tonight’s game pitting the Kansas Jayhawks against the Baylor Bears is not just a game between two of the top programs in the country this year. It’s also further proof of why the Big 12 basketball race is the “most fascinating in the country.” With Missouri alongside these two top ranked programs, the Big 12 has turned into an incredible three team race with the Jayhawks, Bears and Tigers able to play with anyone on any night. And if they weren’t beating up on each other this time of year, all three might be at the top in the NCAA tournament next month.

Cindy Boren writes, “Kansas has won at least a share of the regular season conference championship each of the past seven seasons. But the strong play of Baylor and Missouri has put the chances of another Jayhawks’ title in peril. Frank Haith, a strong contender for national coach of the year honors, led the Tigers to a win over Kansas on Saturday night. And Kansas has no time to relax; it travels to Waco, Texas, to play Baylor on Wednesday. What makes this race even more fascinating is that all three teams are in contention for No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.”

Missouri is currently a half game up in the standings at 9-2 over Baylor and KU who are both tied at 8-2. Tonight’s game will go a long way toward positioning at the top.

Kansas will make the trip to Waco, Texas on Wednesday for a rematch with Baylor whom the Jayhawks defeated soundly 92-74 back on January 16 to snap the Bears 17 game winning streak. Tyshawn Taylor scored a career high 28 points during the first meeting while Thomas Robinson added 27. Kansas is preparing for a focused Bears team in a game that is suddenly important in the overall Big 12 standings. Kansas coach Bill Self understands that things probably won't come near as easy on the road as they did at home.

"They're going to be good, there's no question. The first time we played them, we played pretty good, but we also had some breaks, some things went our way. ... We're going to have to probably play as well as we've played all year, or better."

Game date/time: Wednesday, February 8, 6:00 p.m. CT

Location: Ferrell Center, Waco, Texas

TV: ESPN2

Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network

Online Streaming: ESPN3

For more on this game Kansas fans should head over to Rock Chalk Talk and Baylor fans should check out Our Daily Bears. For more college basketball news and analysis head on over to SB Nation's College Basketball page.