Baylor @ Kansas preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 12, 2019 ) Kansas 73, Baylor 68

Kansas finds itself in the unfamiliar position of having little at stake in its regular-season finale, as the team knows its NCAA-record run of 14 consecutive regular-season conference titles is over and its No. 3 seed in next week's Big 12 Tournament is set. The 14th-ranked Jayhawks have been dominant in Lawrence, however, and they'll try to put the finishing touches on the program's 20th undefeated season at home Saturday against Baylor.

“The reality is (winning 14 straight titles) will never happen again in a Power Five-type conference. … Never is a long time, but it’ll never happen again," coach Bill Self said on his weekly radio show after his team lost 81-68 at Oklahoma on Tuesday to officially end Kansas' streak. Even in what was an uncharacteristic year for the Jayhawks, winning at Allen Fieldhouse has not been an issue; Kansas has rolled off 20 straight victories at home and won all 16 this season by an average of 14.2 points. While Kansas is assured of extending its NCAA-record streak of making the Big Dance to 30 seasons, the Bears could use an upset victory this weekend to enhance their chances of making the NCAA Tournament after sitting out last year. Baylor, which is locked into the No. 4 seed in the Big 12 Tournament, is in danger of dropping three straight for the first time this season after losing 67-64 at home to Oklahoma State on Wednesday.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT BAYLOR (19-11, 10-7 Big 12): The Bears capped a night in which they shot 35 percent from the field by failing to convert a field goal over the final 4 1/2 minutes Wednesday; Baylor's only two worse shooting performances of the season came at Texas Tech on Feb. 16 (34.7 percent) and versus Kansas on Jan. 12 (33.3). Junior Freddie Gillespie (5.5 points) was the only Bear to hit at least half of his shots, as he finished with a career high-tying 14 points on 6-of-9 from the floor while his teammates combined to go 15-for-51. Makai Mason (14.6) enjoyed his best offensive output in over a month with 19 points, reaching double figures for the 20th time in 25 outings.

ABOUT KANSAS (22-8, 11-6): Dedric Lawson (19.0 points, 10.5 rebounds) recorded 18 points and 11 boards Tuesday en route to his league-leading 19th double-double, moving into a three-way tie with Raef LaFrentz (1998) and Dave Robisch (1970) for fifth place on the school's all-time single-season list. Freshman forward David McCormack (3.0 points), tallied a season-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting in only 21 minutes against Oklahoma after totaling 66 over his first 27 outings. "I thought David played by far his best game offensively against OU. He scored 18 points. I thought they were real points, there wasn't a lot of garbage to it. … I do think he is on an uptick, without question," Self said.

TIP-INS

1. Kansas beat Baylor 73-68 in the first meeting despite getting outrebounded 49-30. The resulting plus-19 rebounding margin is tied for the widest disparity by a Jayhawk opponent since the 1988-89 season.

2. Four of the five outings in which Mason has failed to reach double figures have come since he hurt his foot in practice days after his 40-point outburst against TCU on Feb. 2.

3. Lawson is primed to win the Big 12 rebounding title (Texas' Dylan Osetkowski is second at 7.6), but he only holds three-tenths of a point lead over Iowa State's Marial Shayok for the scoring title. No player has led the Big 12 in both categories since Oklahoma's Blake Griffin in 2008-09.

PREDICTION: Kansas 73, Baylor 61