Jayhawks escape Baylor with 56-55 win

Kansas guard Brannen Greene (14) taps his head after hitting a three-pointer against Baylor during the first half on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2014 at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

KANSAS 56, BAYLOR 55

• Box score

Kansas University’s basketball team avoided a Baylor buzzer-beater and thereby also circumvented a rare conference-opening loss Wednesday night at Waco, Texas.

Though sophomore point guard Frank Mason III missed the front end of his one-and-one trip to the free-throw line with three seconds to play, the Bears didn’t get a shot off on the other end and Kansas won its 24th Big 12 opener in a row, 56-55.

The No. 12 Jayhawks (12-2 overall, 1-0 Big 12) made seven of their final eight field goals and shot 72.7 percent from the floor in the second half to pull off the win after a sluggish first half and a 22-18 halftime deficit.

Brannen Greene, who scored 12 points off the bench for Kansas, hit two clutch free throws with 6.3 seconds remaining.

Jamari Traylor scored 13 points and pulled down five rebounds, while exposing the Bears’ half-court zone in the second half, before fouling out with 5:18 to play.

Wayne Selden Jr. hit three straight shots in the final minutes to keep No. 21 Baylor (11-3, 0-2) from picking up its first conference win.

Kenny Chery scored a game-high 25 points for Baylor, but KU’s defense held the Bears to 11-for-28 shooting in the second half.

KU returns to Allen Fieldhouse Saturday to play host to Texas Tech — 2 p.m. tip-off on ESPNU.

— See what people were saying about the game at KUsports.com’s live blog.

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