WACO, Texas _ A 10th straight victory over Baylor has the Kansas men's basketball team on the verge of winning its 13th straight regular-season Big 12 championship.
The No. 3-ranked Jayhawks bested the No. 4 Bears 67-65 on Saturday at Ferrell Center and, in the process, stretched their lead to three games in the league race with four games to play.
KU can assure itself at least a tie for the title by beating TCU on Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse. KU (24-3, 12-2) would be assured at least a tie even before Wednesday's tip if Baylor (22-5, 9-5) loses Tuesday against Oklahoma and Iowa State or West Virginia lose Saturday or Monday or Tuesday.
A 13th consecutive crown would tie KU with UCLA (1967-79) for the most consecutive conference titles in college basketball history.
Landen Lucas hit two free throws with 11.5 seconds left to bust a 65-65 tie and account for the margin of victory. He had grabbed a rebound of a Devonte Graham miss before being fouled.
On Baylor's final possession, Manu Lecomte missed a shot in the lane with three seconds left, and the ball careened to the corner and the clock ran out.
Frank Mason scored 23 points and Josh Jackson added 16 for a KU team that has won four straight against Baylor in Waco. The Bears were led by Johnathan Motlley, Lecomte and Jo Lual-Acuil who scored 19, 16 and 11 respectively.
KU trailed by as many as 12 points with 51 seconds left in the first half but cut it to six by halftime on 3s from Mason and Jackson.
BU's Lecomte scored 11 points, Motley nine and Lual-Acuil six the first half. Jackson countered with nine, Mason seven and Lagerald Vick five for KU.
Motley scored seven points and Baylor led, 15-6, seven minutes into the game. KU went on a 9-0 run to tie the score at 15 at 10:00. Vick hit a 3, while Mason had a bucket and fed Jackson for a lob dunk and Landen Lucas for a layup.
Lecomte hit a pair of 3s and Motley scored as BU used an 8-0 run to grab a 23-15 lead at 7:54. KU responded with buckets from Lucas and Vick to cut it to 23-19 at 6:51. At that point, BU embarked on a 12-4 surge.
