LAWRENCE, Kan. – Turning it over a season-high-tying 21 times – at Allen Fieldhouse, to boot - the 13^th-ranked Baylor Bears probably shouldn't have been in position to pull out their second-ever win here.
 
But that's exactly where they were Saturday night, getting two open 3-point attempts in the last eight seconds.
 
Jayden Nunn and freshman Ja'Kobe Walter both missed potential game-tying threes, as No. 4 Kansas (19-5, 7-4) held on for a 64-61 victory over the Bears (17-6, 6-4) before a sellout crowd of 16,300 to run their home-court winning streak to 18 in a row.
 
"I thought Kansas did a great job, forcing 21 turnovers," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team had a three-game winning streak snapped. "I take responsibility, offensively, for our spacing. That was really the difference in the game. We've got to do a better job. You're not going to beat anybody quality, let alone Kansas at Kansas, with 21 turnovers."
 
Playing without leading scorer Kevin McCullar Jr., sidelined by a knee injury, the Jayhawks were down to a seven-man rotation that included Towson transfer Nicolas Timberlake making his first start. But Baylor was also playing its first game without sophomore sixth man Langston Love, who suffered an ankle injury four days ago against Texas Tech.
 
"He's a tough kid," Drew said of Love, who's third on the team with 11.5 points per game. "Once he can go, he'll go. We were hopeful it was going to happen today. He would have played but wouldn't have been effective."
 
Filling in for Love, freshman Miro Little actually played a productive 19 minutes, getting three points, six rebounds, two blocks and an assist. But Kansas scored 17 points off the Bears' 21 turnovers in handing them their fourth conference loss by four or fewer points.
 
"They only had eight turnovers, we had 21," Drew said. "If (Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick) Mahomes throws six picks, they ain't winning tomorrow. That's plain and simple. We've been really good at taking care of the ball. We didn't see this coming."
 
Freshman 7-footer Yves Missi outplayed Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Hunter Dickenson, scoring 21 points, hitting 9-of-12 from the line and grabbing eight boards, helping Baylor dominate the rebounding battle, 42-25.
 
Walter also shined, hitting two 3-pointers, hitting 5-of-5 from the line and finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. But the freshman guard came up just short on his 3-pointer at the buzzer.
 
Trailing by double digits with under seven minutes to play, the Bears made it a one-possession game with a run that included two 3-pointers by Walter, one by Nunn and four free throws by Missi.
 
With a chance to put it away, Kansas turned it over with 14.2 seconds left when Timberlake overthrew the 7-2 Dickerson, who led the Jayhawks with 15 points and seven rebounds.
 
"This is probably the least happy I've been after a win," said KU coach Bill Self, "because that's not the way you play basketball. I'm disappointed that we made those four or five plays to put us in harm's way to lose the game."
 
Because of the limited rotation, Self hoped the game would be slow, "which it was."
 
"I was hoping the game was ugly and muddy, which it was, in large part because they turned it over and in large part because we couldn't make shots."
 
The Bears got a wide-open look from the corner, but Nunn was off the mark, finishing with eight points on 2-for-5 shooting from outside the arc. After Timberlake missed the front end of a one-and-one, Walter took the last shot from about 23 feet.
 
Junior point guard Dajuan Harris left the game briefly with a left ankle injury, but hit two 3-pointers and finished with 14 points and five assists. K.J. Adams and freshman Johnny Furphy scored 13 and 11 points, respectively, for the Jayhawks.
 
Kansas outscored the Bears, 17-5, on points off turnovers and had a 30-22 edge on points in the paint. Baylor also got nine points from Jalen Bridges (3-for-7 from outside the arc) and three points, eight assists and seven rebounds from RayJ Dennis.
 
Back at Foster Pavilion, the Bears will host Oklahoma (17-6, 5-5) at 8 p.m. Tuesday in a game that will be broadcast by ESPN2. The Sooners were hosting in-state rival Oklahoma State Saturday night in Norman.