Kansas basketball’s Marcus Garrett bids farewell with a major win against Baylor on Senior Night

No. 17 Kansas basketball came into their matchup with the No. 2 Baylor Bears as a rare 5.5 point underdog in Allen Fieldhouse. It was clear they were going to battle as they came out to a hot start for the third game in a row and eventually managed to come out victorious with a 13 point win while dominating Baylor for the majority of the game.

We saw success from the man of the night, Marcus Garrett, who was clearly on a mission as he finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Another contributor, David McCormack, finished with 20 points and 3 blocks, including an authoritative swat into the stands to emphasize the win.

Just last Saturday, we were saying Kansas completed arguably its best game of the season against Texas Tech, but it seems the Jayhawks may have surpassed that.

One of the most surprising and impressive stats is that Kansas was +20 in the rebounding column, signaling their aggressiveness and energy.

How important is this win for Kansas to cap the regular season? Jayhawk nation – including head coach Bill Self – seems to think immensely.

Coach Self was hyped up after the win as he pumped his fist and passionately expressed his excitement for the win right before introducing Garrett for his post-game speech.

Garrett, who claimed he was going to try not to shed any tears during his speech, went 12 minutes as he thanked his family in attendance before moving onto his coaches (not before almost forgetting assistant coach Jerrance Howard), teammates and finally, the fans.

While it is possible Garrett could return to Lawrence for an extra year of eligibility, he plans to treat this as his last game at Kansas – aside from a last minute addition of a home game against UTEP on March 4th. Upperclassmen Mitch Lighfoot and Chris Teahan have already indicated their plans to return for a final year. 

It’s no doubt the Jayhawks have played significantly better in the last 3 weeks. The consensus around this team seems to be that they are playing with more confidence and ramping it up defensively and buying into the idea that solid defense leads to offense.

The season certainly isn’t getting any easier as we get close to single elimination, but it just may seem that the Jayhawks are peaking at the right time.