Big 12 Tournament Ends Early for Kansas in 57-52 Loss to TCU

Cold shooting dooms the Jayhawks in their opening game in Kansas City against the Horned Frogs.

For anyone expecting a repeat of the comfortable season ending victory for the Kansas Jayhawks over the TCU Horned Frogs, this game was anything but. As head coach Brandon Schneider noted afterwards, it was a "tough day at the office" for Kansas.

The game started out much like the one in Fort Worth, with the two teams playing back and forth for much of the entire first half. Neither team was able to get any momentum until the Jayhawks went on a quick 5-0 run from Chandler Prater to go up by five. After a TCU three, Franklin got to the basket on a fastbreak to put the Jayhawks up four at the half.

No one would blame you if you thought that the halftime margin was the start of a run for Kansas as they moved to a dominant victory. Instead, the lead for Kansas was quickly erased with seven straight points for the Horned Frogs. A jumper by Jackson gave the Jayhawks their last lead of the game at 38-37 with 4:44 left in the third quarter. After that point, the Jayhawks went ice cold, shooting only 5-22 the rest of the way. 

The Jayhawks were led by Kansas City native Chandler Prater, who had 21 points and 12 rebounds, but the rest of the team struggled. Holly Kersgieter was the only other Kansas player to score in double digits, but her 11 points came on just 3-15 shooting. Zakiyah Franklin, who had scored in double figures in the prior 14 games, was held to just 6 points. Taiyanna Jackson had a Big 12 Championship record 21 rebounds, but was held to just 7 points.

Overall, the Kansas defense played very well in this one, holding TCU to just 33.9% from the field.  But the inability to hit shots in key situations kept the Jayhawks from moving on.

With the loss, the Jayhawks dropped to 19-11 overall on the season. They are left to wait for the announcement of their postseason fate. While it is believed that they are safely in the NCAA Tournament field, the loss to TCU leaves just enough doubt to make Sunday uncomfortable. The selection show will air Sunday, March 12 at 7pm CST on ESPN. An NCAA Tournament berth would be their second consecutive selection and the 15th in program history.

Join the discussion! Come talk about this or any of our articles on the Blue Wing Rising Discord Server.

Follow Blue Wings Rising on Twitter.

Listen to the official podcast of Blue Wings Rising: The Rock Chalk Podcast.