Kansas basketball: David McCormack will be a vital asset at home against Baylor Bears

Keeping David McCormack out of foul trouble tomorrow against Baylor will be a must for Kansas basketball to find a win.

Kansas basketball dropped a tough loss on the road to Texas last week. Tomorrow, they’ll look to rebound against the No. 2 Baylor Bears and close out their conference season on a high note.

A major key for the Jayhawks will be keeping junior forward David McCormack out of foul trouble and consistent inside.

Giving up a decent lead to the Longhorns this past Tuesday, McCormack found himself in foul trouble during crucial, late minutes of the game.

Losing McCormack proved to be a tough price to pay to go into overtime. When Kansas is backed up against the wall, they simply can’t afford to lose their strong man in the paint.

It’s important to note that Kansas went on a scoring spree without McCormack late in the first half of this game, which some might’ve thought was enough momentum to push them through the second half.

This proved to be untrue, as Kansas struggled throughout the second half and allowed their edge to be taken away.

This will be a different story against the Bears and David McCormack will have a substantial role.

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Baylor nearly dropped their last contest to Iowa State, as the Bears were coming off a cold break due to pandemic concerns within their program.

This will give Kansas an edge to some degree, but we should expect a back-and-forth shoot-out regardless. The Bears received a decent scare from the Cyclones and I wouldn’t expect them to come to make the same mistakes in Lawrence.

Of the various shortcomings Baylor found this past Tuesday at home, three-point shooting is where they particularly struggled. Going 4-13, it doesn’t seem like the Bears were finding any significant angle on the Cyclones.

Jared Butler found a decent game for the Bears with 18 points, and having him shooting well coming off their schedule break will present a challenge for Kansas tomorrow.

While Iowa State worked their way back in the second half, Kansas should have a different approach. The Jayhawks will need to catch fire early and keep the Bears on their toes.

A strong contributor for Kansas will have to be McCormack. When shots don’t fall from the outside, Kansas will need their strong man inside to consistently put away buckets.

Without a consistent offense, Kansas will fall behind, it’s a simple as that. It’s not to say anyone should count out the Jayhawks though. They’ve been playing much better basketball throughout the month and their overtime performance against Texas was honestly impressive.

Tomorrow’s home matchup will not be Kansas’ last game of the season. The program announced they’ve scheduled another home game against UTEP on March 4th. Despite the schedule addition, Kansas will need full, limited capacity, attendance tomorrow night.

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