By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Scott Drew might have to try to convince Baylor's opponents to wear Kansas' blue jerseys the rest of the season. 
            Seems like they bring out the best in junior guard Jared Butler, who hit an unconscious 7-of-9 from outside the arc and poured in a season-high 30 points to help the No. 2 Bears knock off No. 9 Kansas, 77-69, Monday night at the Ferrell Center. 
            "It might be the blue (jerseys0, it might be they didn't recruit me. I don't know what it is," said Butler, who has averaged 23.2 points in five career games versus Kansas (10-4, 4-3), including two of his three 30-point games. "Whenever we play Kansas, it's supposed to be a big game, and I love big games and big moments."
            Baylor (13-0, 6-0), one of four remaining undefeated teams, is off to a 13-0 start for the fourth time in program history and third time in the last 10 years. The defending conference champion Jayhawks lost back-to-back Big 12 games for the first time in eight years. 
            "No offense to Kansas, but we could lose to Kansas and in most years, you win the Big 12 if you win your other games," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "I think sometimes in the past, I might have put too much stock in that game. Why we're the best league six out of the last seven years is because every team is good, every coach is good, the players are good, the environments are tough. Just focus in on what we can control and not get too hyped."
            With Butler draining five first-half 3-pointers and scoring 17 points, the Bears led by as many as 16 and went to the break up 41-28.
            "You can't spot a team (16 points) . . . and expect to come back," KU coach Bill Self said. "We put some pressure on them, I thought, there for a stretch, but not enough."
            Twice in the second half, Kansas trimmed the deficit to five, the last one coming on a dunk by Jalen Wilson that made it a 65-60 game with 3:18 still left to play. But each time, Baylor answered. 
            "Being a vet team, we all knew where we were and what we needed to do," said Mark Vital, who finished with four points and 10 rebounds, helping Baylor finish with a 29-23 edge on the boards against a Kansas team that came in as the No. 1 rebounding team in the league. "When I was younger, we used to get messed up like, 'Oh man, they cut it to five.' Nah, we just talked it out and then we went out there and did what we had to do."
            As he did most of the game, Butler had the answer, draining a 3-pointer that seemed to take the life out of the Jayhawks. And then, MaCio Teague drove by Marcus Garrett for a layup and follow free throw that pushed the lead back to double digits. 
            Butler and Davion Mitchell combined to hit six-straight free throws down the stretch to ice the game. 
            "It's definitely our maturity, for sure, and our ability to stay focused in the game," said Butler, who added eight assists. "My trying to do it all by myself, it's never worked out that way. . . . I just make sure we play a team game, and I think we're unbeatable when we play that way."
            Christian Braun drained five 3-pointers and led Kansas with 17 points, while Ochai Agbaji hit four treys and scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half. Led by Vital's 10 rebounds, Baylor's inside trio of Vital, Flo Thamba and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua had a combined 19 points and 19 rebounds and limited 6-10 David McCormack to just six points and two boards. 
            While Butler stole the show during the game, Vital had a mic-drop moment in the postgame media Zoom when he called out ESPN analyst Fran Franschilla for tweeting, "It's painful for me to say this, but this is not the same Mark Vital of last season. . . . Would love to see that fire again."
            Vital, who posed with Fraschilla for a picture on the court after the game, said: "Say what you want to say. At the end of the day, I'm one of the best defenders in the country. I've got great teammates that motivate me and great coaches that take care of me. You can say what you want to say. At the end of the day, they motivate me. it's giving me a lot of fun, it's just adding to the fire."
            Drew agreed with that statement, saying Vital "really had some extra juice in him tonight."
            Butler said Vital "brings energy, he brings life. It doesn't matter what anybody says."
            Baylor, the only team in the country that has won every game by at least eight points, goes on the road to face Oklahoma State (9-3, 3-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Stillwater. OSU has had its last two games postponed after upsetting Kansas, 75-70, last Tuesday.