Baylor @ Kansas preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 9, 2019 ) Baylor 70, Kansas 78

Baylor has knocked off four ranked teams during its 11-game winning streak, but its next challenge figures to be the most daunting of the bunch. The fourth-ranked Bears attempt to secure their first road win against Kansas in 18 tries when they visit the third-ranked Jayhawks in a showdown between two of the four remaining unbeaten teams in Big 12 play.

After defeating No. 16 Villanova on a neutral court in November and earning home wins over sixth-ranked Butler and No. 24 Arizona in December, Baylor notched its Division I-best fourth win over an AP Top 25 team Tuesday, overcoming a season-high 20 turnovers in a 57-52 victory at No. 21 Texas Tech. "We knew it was going to be a rock fight. … The thing that I was most proud of, being in the first road Big 12 game … we never lost our composure. … I thought our guys did a great job on moving on to the next play," coach Scott Drew told reporters. While Baylor boasts the stingiest scoring defense in the conference (58.4 points; ninth in Division I), Kansas has arguably been just as dominant defensively for over a month (61.6; 35th). The Jayhawks gave up 57 or fewer points for the fifth straight game Wednesday, holding Iowa State 27 points below their league-leading scoring average while cruising to a 79-53 road triumph.

TIME: 1 p.m. ET. TV: CBS

ABOUT BAYLOR (12-1, 2-0 Big 12): The Bears were able to overcome a season-low five-point effort from leading scorer Jared Butler (16.3 points) thanks in part to sophomore guard Davion Mitchell (9.6), who tallied a team-high 14 points and has scored at least 14 points in three of his last four outings. Junior guard Mark Vital (6.7 points, 6.0 rebounds) enjoyed his finest all-around performance of the season, finishing with eight points, a season-high 13 boards and a season-high tying three steals. Freddie Gillespie (8.7, 9.5) ranks fourth in the conference with five double-doubles and just missed posting a sixth Tuesday with nine points and 10 rebounds; he has corralled at least 10 boards in three straight contests and eight times overall this season.

ABOUT KANSAS (12-2, 2-0): Ochai Agbaji went 4-for-5 from 3-point range Wednesday as the Jayhawks finished with 10 3-pointers - their most in a Big 12 contest since sinking 17 at Texas on Dec. 29, 2017. Fellow sophomore guard Devon Dotson poured in 20 points to increase his conference-leading scoring average to 18.6 and added three steals; he ranks second in the Big 12 with 2.4 steals per game after recording 11 steals over the last three outings. Defensive stalwart Marcus Garrett (8.9 points, 4.2 assists) is expected to play Saturday after suffering a left ankle injury Wednesday, less than three weeks after a right ankle injury forced him from the game in a loss to Villanova.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Kansas is 32-5 all-time against Baylor. Thirteen of the first 14 meetings in Lawrence were decided by double figures before each of the last three resulted in single-digit losses for the Bears.

2. Baylor has held the lead for 125 minutes and 50 seconds of game time while going 4-0 against ranked foes.

3. The Jayhawks have limited opponents to fewer than 60 points eight times in 14 games in 2019-20 after doing so a total of 12 times over the last three seasons combined.

PREDICTION: Kansas 64, Baylor 57