Baylor Blasts Kansas State 85-66

No. 2 Baylor (25-2, 14-1) overwhelmed Kansas State (9-19, 2-13) 85-66. This is Baylor’s first sweep of Kansas State since 2016.

Baylor is substantially better than Kansas State—losers of seven straight entering tonight’s game—and they shot well enough to beat anyone tonight. The Bears made their first 12 three throws and finished 16-of-18 from the line. They went 8-of-17 from deep in the first half. They shot an even better percentage in the non-walk-on part of the second half, hitting 5-of-10 triples.

Kansas State tried, but this one was over by halftime. Baylor led 50-25 at the break. Matt Mayer hit threes and set a career high with 19 points. MaCio Teague, in his second game back since his wrist injury, made plenty too (3-of-7 from deep). Davion Mitchell worked the lane. Freddie Gillespie hit midrange shots. Butler—who left the game for a minute in the first half after bumping knees with Mike McGuirl—returned and hit threes too.

Five Bears finished in double figures: Butler, Teague, Mitchell, Gillespie and Mayer.

The final score was not close to indicative of how much of a crush this game was. Baylor led by 34 in the second half. Kansas State made a late run against a Baylor lineup with two walk ons and a seldom used rotation player.

Tristan Clark did not play tonight. But that’s not unexpected after a tough battle with Udoka Azubuike on Saturday.

Tonight was a great response after a tough loss to Kansas. Baylor should be a heavy favorite again at 1:00 on Saturday against TCU in Fort Worth.