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sportsBaylor Bears

No. 2 Baylor avenges last season’s defeat in solid victory over No. 9 Kansas

After a quiet outing last Saturday, Jared Butler led the Bears with 30 points.

After avoiding an upset on Saturday, No. 2 Baylor (13-0, 6-0 Big 12) had a quick turnaround to face what was expected to be its biggest Big 12 test of the season in hosting No. 9 Kansas (10-4, 4-3 Big 12).

While the Bears didn’t cruise to a win, they never lost control as they went on to down the Jayhawks with a convincing 77-69 victory.

Here are three takeaways from the Bears’ win over Kansas:

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Extra motivation

It’s safe to assume the Bears had a little extra motivation to defeat Kansas on Monday. Just 11 months ago, Kansas snapped the top-ranked Bears’ Big 12-record 23-game winning streak at home.

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This time around, Kansas was coming off a narrow five-point loss to Oklahoma State and was playing its first game in over a week after its Saturday matchup against Iowa State was postponed.

The Bears knew they had to be physical, and they did just that. They dominated in the first half and never lost control as they went into halftime with a comfortable 41-28 lead. Baylor led by as much as 16 throughout the night.

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Jared Butler bounces back

Butler had a quiet outing against Texas Tech -- he didn’t record a single point until the last five minutes of the contest.

Baylor’s leading scorer dramatically improved and snapped back into form on Monday. He dropped a team-high 30 points and added eight assists.

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Another competitive win

Monday night offered a preview of what the Bears can expect in March. Prior to the game, MaCio Teague said playing Kansas would help them prepare for the NCAA Tournament.

While the Bears are a legitimate national championship contender, they only had one matchup against a ranked opponent before last Saturday. By adding another competitive win to its resume, Baylor provided more evidence of its capability to be one of the last teams standing.

Find more Baylor coverage from The Dallas Morning News here