No. 11 Kansas hopes to have its lineup back to full strength in a pivotal Big 12 matchup against Baylor on Saturday in Waco, Texas.
The Jayhawks (15-5, 6-3) grinded out a 91-87 home win over UCF on Tuesday without Dajuan Harris Jr. The starter on the Jayhawks’ 2022 national championship team played in 159 straight games until being sidelined by an ankle injury.
A catalyst to the Jayhawks’ offense, Harris averages 9.6 points per game with 5.7 assists. Senior forward KJ Adams returned to the lineup after a separated shoulder kept him out of the previous three games. Adams came off the bench for the first time this season to score 12 points and grab five rebounds.
“It’s pretty evident how valuable Dajuan is after watching our ball-handling and getting into our offense and defense,” Self said. “I think it’s pretty evident how valuable KJ is, too. For him to be out of rhythm and still deliver is pretty impressive.”
In Baylor’s 93-89 overtime loss at BYU on Wednesday, VJ Edgecombe played 43 minutes, scored a game-high 28 points and dished out five assists
The 6-foot-5 freshman is a native of the Bahamas and was the Gatorade Prep Player of the Year in New York the last two seasons. His success has continued at Baylor (13-7, 5-4) where he averages 14.9 points and 5.3 rebounds.
He was named the most recent Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week after he averaged 25.5 points in wins over Kansas State and Utah.
A projected NBA lottery pick, Edgecomb is shooting 43.8 percent from the floor.
Against BYU, Edgecombe shot 9 of 15 (60.0 percent) and drained 6 of 8 shots from 3-point range. It’s the kind of performance the short-handed Bears would like to see more often. Even with the accolades and an increased number of NBA scouts in the stands, Edgecombe said he’s locked into this season with the Bears.
“To be honest, I don’t pay attention to all that,” he said when asked about the flood of scouts at Baylor games. “I am focused on the game, focused on winning the game. I don’t pay attention to who is there or not.”
Injuries have hit Baylor as well, with the Bears again forced into a six-man rotation. Jeremy Roach (11.9 points) missed his third straight game with a concussion and Langston Love (6.5 points) has missed the last eight games with an ankle injury. Norchad Omier leads Baylor in scoring at 15.3 points.
“We’ve got really good guys that like one another and they are winners,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “At the end of the day winners and competitors are going to fight to the end. Some of our shots will go in and some won’t. But we are getting much better as a team and that’s great to see.”
–Field Level Media
