By Blake Schuster
Part three of the Border War finale will have to wait until April.
What was supposed to be mayhem in Kansas City was derailed by a lackluster Kansas performance, which was matched by a dominant Baylor squad down the stretch, in the Jayhawks 81-72 loss to the Bears.
The Jayhawks never led Baylor by more than two as the Bears pulled out their first win of the season against Kansas — KU’s first loss since Feb. 4, in Colombia, MO.
“Baylor shot the ball great,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We let them get comfortable early which isn’t a good sign when you’re playing a really talented team.”
The Bears had six players score double figures, led by Perry Jones III’s 18.
After heading into halftime up 43-35, Baylor came out in the second and weathered Kansas’ best punch. With 16:34 remaining in the second half Thomas Robinson put back an Elijah Johnson rebound to kick off a 13-1 Kansas run over the next three minutes. Kansas would end up taking a 58-56 lead on a Thomas Robinson layup with 10:20 remaining, but would give it up for good a minute later.
“We took a lead and had a chance to have some good possessions,” Self said. “We just didn’t get it done. They were better than us tonight.”
After the Feb. 25 Missouri game at Allen Fieldhouse, Self had said that playing the Tigers again would only mean that Kansas had won three more games, and not much else — now it becomes a moot point. But while the Baylor loss doesn’t nearly hurt as much as one to Kansas would have on February 8th, in Waco, Texas., it might be a different story for fans of Kansas and Missouri who wanted to prove supremacy one last time.
And even though Self said there is zero relief in not having to deal with the emotional stress that comes with the Border War Showdown, one can now only dream about the intensity that would have ensued had the two bitter rivals met one last time — and in Kansas City no less.
The Big 12 Tournament had all the makings of an epic conclusion to one of college basketball’s most storied rivalries, thanks to Scott Drew and Baylor that won’t be the case.
“It’s unfortunate that a lot of rivalries have disappeared because of realignment,” Drew said. “I think every fan should be saddened and from a personal standpoint I think people make decisions thinking they are going to keep rivalries, and get to do other things, but sometimes that doesn’t work out, I feel bad for the fans.”
And so it stands that Thomas Robinson’s last-second block on Phil Pressey will be the lasting image from a rivalry decked in blood — unless March Madness has other plans, but until then it’s rest and practice in preparation for the NCAA tournament — or at least Tyshawn Taylor was hoping.
“I’m not sure Ty is going to get his wish on the day off tomorrow,” Self said. “We’ll go back to practice, this has to be a team that makes other people play poorly.”