LAWRENCE (KSNT) - No. 4 Kansas men's basketball took down the No. 13 Baylor Bears without one of its key starters playing.
The Jayhawks beat the Bears 64-61 on Saturday.
Their starting five looked different than usual with senior star Kevin McCullar Jr. sitting out and Nick Timberlake starting in his place, but that didn't appear to phase the Jayhawks.
KU's offense got out in front quickly, leading by as many as 13 in the first half. Hunter Dickinson led the way for the Jayhawks, scoring 13 of his 15 total points in the first half. However, a Kansas scoring drought allowed the Bears to cut the deficit to 34-28 at the break.
Baylor continued knocking on the door after halftime, completing an 8-0 run out of the break to cut KU's lead to 37-36.
Back-to-back three pointers from Dajuan Harris and Timberlake gave the Jayhawks some life with just over 12 minutes remaining, but the Bears never let things get out of reach. The game went down to the final possession, but KU held on to improve to 19-5 on the season.
Four of KU's five starters finished in double digits. Dickinson scored 15, Harris scored 14, KJ Adams added 13 and Johnny Furphy racked up 11 of his own.
Up next, Kansas travels to Lubbock to take on No. Texas Tech on Monday. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. CST on ESPN.
