Kelly Oubre scored 18 points, including a clinching 3-pointer in the final minutes, and eighth-ranked Kansas overcame a slow start to beat No. 16 Baylor 74-64 on Saturday.
Junior forward Perry Ellis also had 18 points to join the 1,000-point for his career, and Wayne Selden Jr. finished with 15 points as the Jayhawks (21-4, 10-2 Big 12) dug out of a 13-point first-half hole to remain perfect in 13 matchups with the Bears (18-7, 6-6) in Lawrence.
Kansas was clinging to a 57-55 lead after the Bears' Rico Gathers made two foul shots with about 6 minutes left. But Ellis scored a couple of baskets around a midrange jumper from Landen Lucas, who had nine points off the bench, and the Jayhawks began to pull away.
Oubre's 3 from the top of the key, his fourth of the game, made it 67-59 with 1:59 left.
The win was the Jayhawks' 21st straight at Allen Fieldhouse, and ensures the 10-time champs would have no worse than a two-game lead in the conference race with six games to go.
Gathers led the Bears with 18 points and eight rebounds, despite playing the final stretch with four fouls. Kenny Chery followed up his 25-point performance in the teams' first meeting in Waco with 17 points, and Taurean Prince had 14 points off the bench.
Despite their long losing streak in Lawrence, the Bears looked unperturbed early on by the roaring sellout crowd stuffed inside Allen Fieldhouse. They launched an 18-6 run to open the game, beat Kansas to every loose ball and at one point had a 12-2 edge on the glass.
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Kansas, the best 3-point shooting team in the Big 12, rallied back thanks to three straight long-range jumpers -- perhaps to the chagrin of coach Bill Self, who called a period of hot outside shooting by his team "fools gold" after a recent victory.
Baylor's lead had been trimmed to 33-27 by halftime.
The Jayhawks kept up the pressure early in the second half, scoring right away on an alley-oop dunk by Wayne Selden. They finally took the lead for the first time when Oubre followed up his own missed 3 with a bucket at the rim to make it 36-35 with 17:13 remaining.
Baylor regained the lead a few minutes later, and it was 49-45 after Chery hit a 3-pointer with 9:41 to go. But the Jayhawks put together a 10-0 spurt of the next few minutes, and Brannen Greene's 3-pointer to cap the run gave Kansas a 55-49 advantage.
The Jayhawks never trailed the rest of the way.
HONORING SMITH
Kansas played a special video in memory of Dean Smith, who died last Saturday at his home in North Carolina. The longtime Tar Heels coach grew up in nearby Topeka and was part of the Jayhawks' national title team in 1952. He later served as an assistant at Kansas under Phog Allen.
TIP-INS
Baylor: The Bears fell to 3-15 against Kansas under coach Scott Drew. ... Baylor finished with a 33-32 edge on the boards. ... The Bears allowed the Jayhawks to shoot 29 free throws.
Kansas: Frank Mason's streak of 21 straight games scoring in double figures ended Saturday. He finished with five points and eight assists. ... Among former players who returned during the NBA's All-Star break were Ben McLemore, Nick Collison and Joel Embiid.
UP NEXT:
Baylor heads to Lubbock to face Texas Tech on Tuesday night.
Kansas visits No. 21 West Virginia on Monday night.
