photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Jalen Wilson (10) celebrates with Kansas guard Christian Braun (2) after a dunk by Braun against Baylor during the first half on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Christian Braun and Ochai Agbaji each had a team-high 18 points and Jalen Wilson added 15 as No. 10 Kansas defeated No. 8 Baylor 83-59 on Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.

Braun also had a team- and season-high 10 rebounds for the Jayhawks (19-3, 8-1 Big 12), who solidified their spot atop the Big 12 with the victory. Their lead hit 34 points with 3:37 remaining, marking the largest deficit Baylor had faced all season, and they consistently held a double-digit advantage in points that they took just eight minutes in.

Agbaji, who also had nine rebounds, missed the Jayhawks’ 70-61 win at No. 20 Iowa State on Tuesday because of the illness but was cleared to play against Baylor.

Kansas outrebounded Baylor 46-37 and held a 20-13 edge on second-chance points. It shot 51.6 percent (32-for-62) while limiting its opponent to 29.6 percent (21-for-71) shooting, including 25.8 percent (8-for-31) in the first half.

The Jayhawks set the tone for the game early, scoring seven of their first nine points on the fastbreak and crashing the boards early — with David McCormack, who finished with nine points and eight rebounds, grabbing five rebounds in the first five minutes.

Their perimeter defense suffocated the Bears (19-4, 7-3 Big 12), who got very little production from their guards. Senior point guard James Akinjo, who entered averaging 13.6 points per game and scored 25 in Baylor’s last game, against West Virginia, was held without a point on 0-for-11 shooting primarily because of Dajuan Harris Jr. Leading scorer LJ Cryer, a sophomore guard, missed his third consecutive game with a right foot injury.

Kansas led 39-21 at the half and only piled on from there. The lead, which hit 20 points for the first time late in the first half, consistently stayed above that mark. Baylor coach Scott Drew tried to ratchet up the intensity after he was assessed a technical foul for arguing a charging call three minutes in, but it didn’t work.

Baylor, the defending national champion, spent five weeks ranked at No. 1 before it lost a pair of conference games in mid-January. It had won its last nine games against teams ranked in the top 10, including two this season.

The win meant KU avoided a second consecutive defeat at Allen Fieldhouse for the first time since Feb. 15, 1989, Roy Williams’ first season as its coach. It lost a nonconference game to Kentucky 80-62 a week earlier.

Kansas will return to the court on Monday, when it will face No. 23 Texas on the road.