By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            On a crazy shakeup day that saw six other top-10 teams all lose on the road, the fifth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks looked like they were going to buck that trend when they jumped out to a double-digit lead on No. 10 Baylor five minutes into Saturday's game at the Ferrell Center. 
            But, a career-high 18 points from Flo Thamba and a late first-half run helped the Bears avenge a 24-point road loss at Kansas and defeat the Jayhawks, 80-70, before a record crowd of 10,628. 
            "I know our team looked a little different at the beginning of the year than we do now, but don't count these guys out," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team improved to 24-5 overall and 12-4 in the Big 12, just a half-game behind Kansas (23-5, 12-3). "They persevered."
            Taking a cue from his coach – one of the most positive guys in the world – freshman Jeremy Sochan said the Bears got back in it with "just positivity."
            "We went into the timeouts and just tried to motivate each other, just get hyped a little bit. It was a slow start, but we can't give up," said Sochan, who matched his career-high with 17 points and added five rebounds while battling 6-10, 250-pound center David McCormack in the post a good bit of the night. 
            Kansas coach Bill Self said the 6-9 Sochan was a tough matchup for McCormack "because he could drive it downhill."
            "That was the best I've seen Sochan play," Self said. "And then, we gave Kendall (Brown) a dare shot (3-pointer) that went in, and that was a big play, too. I think Sochan probably hurt us quite a bit with his ability to drive the ball."
            For the first 14 ½ minutes, this looked a lot like Baylor's 83-59 blowout loss at Allen Fieldhouse earlier this month, when the Jayhawks jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first five minutes and were up by 18 at the half. 
            But, this time was different. 
            The only thing that kept it from being a complete runaway early was Thamba, who scored 12 of Baylor's first 17 points. 
            "I'm happy for him, because he's worked really hard," Drew said of the 6-10 Thamba, who's had to carry more of the load with Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua suffering a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago. "I think first, Flo did a good job getting position for rebounds. The guards did a good job hitting him, and he did a good job catching and finishing."
            Even with Thamba's contributions, though, the Bears still found themselves down 28-15 with 5 ½ minutes left in the first half. Thamba started a 16-4 run with his fourth-straight bucket, followed by two free throws by James Akinjo, two fast-break layups by Adam Flagler and a Sochan dunk off a Dale Bonner dish in a 10-0 run that forced Self to call a timeout. 
            "I was just finishing my breakfast, like coach likes to say," Thamba said of his 8-for-13 night from the field. "I consider myself an elite offensive rebounder, so just crash the glass, and there's my breakfast."
            A bucket by Remy Martin stopped the 10-0 run, but momentum stayed with the Bears, as Matthew Mayer scored on a dish from Akinjo and then hit a pair of free throws with 34.9 seconds left that made it 32-31 at the break. 
            "They were the most aggressive team in that stretch where they came back," said Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji, who scored 18 of his game-high 27 points in the second half. "They were getting foul calls, they were playing downhill, kind of us on our heels. Even in transition, which we do as a team."
            That's the thing, Baylor beat Kansas at its own game, outscoring the Jayhawks in fast-break points, 22-7. While the Bears forced a season-low five turnovers, snapping a streak of 37-straight games with 10-plus turnovers, they won a tight rebounding battle, 40-38. 
            "That's what I like about our team," Thamba said. "We have different pieces. I can come in and be more of a presence at center. And (Sochan) can come in and be more of a ballhandler and get easy buckets. I just love our team and the different matchups we have."
            Baylor took its first lead of the game, 33-32, when Akinjo found Brown for a dunk on a fast break. Self was assessed a technical foul when he came on the floor to argue a no-call on a drive by Christian Braun on the other end after the Bears were whistled for just three first-half fouls. 
            "We didn't shoot a free throw the first half," Self said. "So, any free throw, if we shot one, that would be more than double how many we shot in the first half. There wasn't more of an emphasis, but I did think we were aggressive driving the ball, for the most part."
            Kansas answered with a 7-0 run to regain the lead, but Baylor never trailed in the last 11 minutes after going back on top, 54-51, with a Thamba three-point play.
            After Agbaji tied it at 63-63 with a 3-pointer, the Bears outscored the Jayhawks, 17-7, over the last 4 ½ minutes in a stretch that included a Mayer 3-pointer and three-point plays by Sochan and Akinjo. 
            "Considering what we've been through with a lot of guys banged-up, a lot of major injuries, a win like this just gives us motivation to push forward for the rest of the season," Thamba said. 
            Flagler and Akinjo scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, while Mayer finished one point shy of his first double-double with nine points and a career-high 12 boards. Braun (17 points, 10 rebounds) and McCormack (10 points, 13 boards) both recorded double-doubles for the Jayhawks. 
            In a quick turnaround, Baylor will face 20^th-ranked Texas (21-8, 10-6) at 8 p.m. Monday in the Longhorns' final game at the Frank Erwin Center. UT rallied from a 10-point deficit to defeat West Virginia, 82-81, on the road on Saturday and has won three of its last four games.