Lawrence, KS – Ben McLemore scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds before leaving with an injury, and No. 4 Kansas shut down Baylor, 61-44, in a one-sided Big 12 showdown.
McLemore, a talented freshman from St. Louis and Kansas' leading scorer, rolled his ankle late in the blowout and had to be helped to the locker room with the aid of trainers.
"(McLemore) sprained an ankle," said Kansas head coach Bill Self after the game. "I think it scared him as much as anything else. He said he heard a pop, but (Kansas athletic trainer) Bill (Cowgill) said he checked it out and he probably just has a sprained ankle and with a few days off he should be ok."
At the time of the scare, the Jayhawks (15-1, 3-0 Big 12) were well on their way to their 14th straight win by holding Baylor to 23 percent shooting. Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively, while Jeff Withey added eight points, six rebounds and three blocks for the victors.
Isaiah Austin paced the Bears (11-5, 3-1) with 15 points, but Pierre Jackson was limited to 10 -- nine below his season average -- on 2-of-12 shooting in the setback.
"Give credit to the defense, but offensively, we have to figure some things out," Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. "We've got to do a better job shooting the ball."
Baylor made just two of its first 14 shots, and a 10-0 Kansas run helped propel the hosts to a 22-9 lead midway through the opening stanza.
Austin rattled in a 3-pointer to pull the Bears within 23-18 a little later, but the Jayhawks scored 10 of the next 12 points to rebuild their double-digit cushion heading into the locker room.
Kansas' defense forced nine turnovers, blocked 10 shots and held the Bears to 21 percent shooting in the first half, and things weren't much different after the break.
The margin reached 19 when Releford made two free throws for a 42-23 advantage three minutes in, and the difference never dipped into single digits the rest of the way.
With just over three minutes remaining McLemore provided an exclamation point with an alley-oop dunk on a fastbreak. But on Kansas' next possession, McLemore went down in pain after planting awkwardly on a drive into the lane, and the once loud crowd grew silent as he had to be carried off the court.
Game Notes
Kansas has won 32 straight games at home ... Baylor averaged 78.6 points its first 14 games, but has put up just 47.5 over the past two. The Bears edged TCU, 51-40, last Saturday ... Baylor is 0-10 all-time at Allen Fieldhouse ... Kansas scored 24 more points in the paint (38-14).
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