Preview: Jayhawks travel to Waco to take on Baylor

The Kansas Jayhawks have been abysmal on the road, losing to Arizona State on the road while also being routed by the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames. Facing their next road test, the Jayhawks will travel to Waco, Texas to face off against the Baylor Bears.

The same team which lost to Texas Southern in the first game of the season is also coming off a victory against the No. 20 Iowa State Cyclones. As for the No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks, they are coming off a 77-68 home victory against the No. 25 TCU Horned Frogs.

Led by junior forward Dedric Lawson’s season-high 31 points, the Jayhawks escaped a late push from the Horned Frogs and coasted to a victory. Going into the game, Lawson had struggled scoring after dropping 30 back in December against Arizona State.

In the three games between Arizona State and TCU, Lawson only averaged 11.3 points, far below his season average of 19.6 points.

Going into the Baylor game, Lawson will need to continue his quiet scoring ways, especially with the absence of fellow junior center Udoka Azuibuike, who suffered a season-ending wrist injury earlier in the year.

Lawson is currently the fourth best scorer in the Big 12 conference and is by far the most well-rounded player on Kansas, being able to score, rebound and pass.

Another player to watch against Baylor is senior guard LaGerald Vick. Earlier in the season, Vick went on a five-game stretch where he scored in double digits every time and shot 61.6% from the field in those games.

Since that stretch however, Vick has shot above 50% once and has scored 20+ once. Vick, the only senior on the team, has a poor history in the Big 12 conference as he averages a mere 7 points per game in conference play over the course of his career, compared to his career 9.1 points per game.

The biggest thing to watch for against Baylor is former redshirt freshman forward Ochai Agbaji. Prior to the start of the season, Agbaji announced he would redshirt his entire freshman season but after talking with coach Bill Self, Agbaji made his first appearance of his collegiate career against TCU.

Agbaji is often referred to as the best athlete on Kansas and it showed as the very first play of his career was an alley-oop from fellow freshman guard Quentin Grimes.

Agbaji went on to play 25 minutes of action, scoring seven points while snagging four rebounds.

Baylor is one of the biggest and most defensive driven teams in the Big 12 conference, leading the league in blocks and amongst the top-three in scoring defense. After losing Azubuike, the Jayhawks lost a lot of their size and Lawson continues to struggle against bigs in the post.

Agbaji will be forced to play a big role against Baylor, being one of the few Kansas players who can make triples. Agbaji also threatens opposing centers, as he had four points off alley-oops against TCU, the other three came off a triple.

Overall, the Jayhawks will be tested on the road, somewhere they have struggled all season.

Players such as sophomore guard Marcus Garrett can shut down Baylor’s struggling guards, but if the Bears can eliminate the low-post game from the Jayhawks, Kansas will likely have a long Saturday afternoon in Waco.