LAWRENCE, Kan. -- After its record streak in the Top 25 came to an end, Kansas spent the past the past three weeks quietly getting better, ripping off five consecutive wins before taking No. 14 Texas to overtime in a close loss on the road.
Baylor spent most of that same stretch mired in a covid-19 shutdown.
So when No. 17 Kansas walked into Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday, it had reason to be confident it could end the Bears' perfect start. And by the time David McCormack finished pouring in 20 points, and Marcus Garrett added 14 on his senior night, the Jayhawks walked out with a 71-58 victory that left No. 1 Gonzaga as the nation's only undefeated team.
"We had three weeks where we got worse and they had three weeks where they got better," said Baylor Coach Scott Drew, whose team led Kansas wire-to-wire in a 77-69 victory last month in Waco, Texas. "Even Superman has kryptonite, and I guess covid protocols are ours."
Kansas (18-8, 12-6) had something to do with it, too.
The Jayhawks held the nation's top three-point shooting team to 6 of 26 from beyond the arc. They had a 48-28 advantage on the boards. They forced Baylor (18-1, 11-1) into early foul trouble and proceeded to go 18 of 26 from the foul line.
They also made sure Baylor would need to wait at least a few more days to clinch its first conference title since 1950.
"There were a lot of naysayers saying whatever they would like," said McCormack, who fouled out in the final minutes. "We had our ebbs and flows, but we're continuing to rise, and we're going to continue to rise into March."
MaCio Teague scored 18 points and Davion Mitchell added 13 for the Bears, but leading scorer Jared Butler was 2 of 9 from the floor and managed just 5 points.
OKLAHOMA STATE 94,
NO. 7 OKLAHOMA 90, OT
NORMAN, Okla. -- Freshman star Cade Cunningham scored 10 of his season-high 40 points in overtime and Oklahoma State defeated No. 7 Oklahoma.
Cunningham's previous scoring high was 29 points. In his first Bedlam rivalry game, he made 12 of 21 field goals and 13 of 14 free throws. He also finished with 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Bryce Williams and Avery Anderson III each scored 15 points for Oklahoma State (16-6, 9-6 Big 12), which won its fourth straight.
De'Vion Harmon matched a career high with 23 points and Austin Reaves (Cedar Ridge) had 22 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds for Oklahoma (15-7, 8-7), which was coming off an upset loss at Kansas State.
UTAH 71,
NO. 19 SOUTHERN CAL 61
SALT LAKE CITY -- Alphonso Plummer scored 19 points, Timmy Allen added 15 points and 8 assists, and Utah pulled away late in the second half to beat No. 19 USC.
Plummer made five three-pointers and Ian Martinez scored 10 points off the bench to help the Utes (10-11, 7-10 Pac-12) beat a top 25 opponent for the first time this season.
Drew Peterson scored 19 points, and Evan Mobley added 11 points and 8 rebounds for suddenly struggling USC (19-6, 13-5), which shot 37% from the floor and lost for the third time in four games.
