Four days of preparation and film just weren’t enough for Russell Robinson.

The Kansas University senior needed just a bit more time to get himself truly into the flow against Baylor in KU’s 100-90 victory Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse.

In the opening minutes, the guard-heavy Bears opened up a 20-13 advantage due to an onslaught of offense from the backcourt. Robinson took a seat on the pine to collect himself, coming back in just as Baylor’s lead reached its limit at seven points.

“There was definitely a lot of frustration because we didn’t get off to a good start,” Robinson said. “I was able to look at the game, catch my breath and came out with a lot of aggression and sparked the team.”

More like ignited. Robinson scored nine points in the next three minutes, pacing a 14-3 KU run.

It turned out to be just the start.

Robinson finished with 22 points – two shy of his career-best – and set personal bests in free throws attempted and made, going 14-of-15 from the stripe.

“He was a big key,” said sophomore forward Darrell Arthur, who led KU with 23 points. “We needed him out there. He got in there, fought for some tough rebounds, got fouled, got to the line whenever he wanted to, and I thought he had a solid game.”

Robinson’s best moment, though, came when he notched his lone steal on the night. It came off of Baylor’s inbound pass to start the second half. He jumped in front of Baylor’s Curtis Jerrells for the pick and fed Brandon Rush.

The end result of the quick possession was an and-one bucket for Arthur. That set the tone for KU’s prolific 64-point second stanza. The second 20 minutes marked KU’s highest-scoring half of the season, surpassing the 58 points notched on Washburn back on Nov. 15.

After Robinson started KU’s post-intermission run, he then closed out Baylor’s tab, too, swishing seven straight charities in the game’s final 2:50, combatting a litany of odd buckets tossed in late by the Bears’ explosive guards.

“I thought Russell played real well,” KU coach Bill Self said. “Of course, it was great to see him make his free throws, and it was good to see how we did step up and make our free throws late, because if we would have missed our free throws, anything could have happened because of the way they were throwing everything in the basket.”

Robinson agreed the test Baylor’s backcourt brought served as good preparation for facing Texas on Monday night in Austin.

It’s also a test he hopes not to retake in the Big 12 tournament or beyond.

“That’s the best set of guards I’ve seen (this year), and hopefully that’s the best set of guards we’ll see all year,” Robinson added. “Because they definitely – 1-through-4 – they can score the ball and are a pretty tough team to guard.”