Kansas Guts Out 63-58 Win Over TCU to Take Sole Lead of Big 12
“We tried,” Bill Self told ESPN’s Kris Budden at halftime with KU up 33-29.
This was not a repeat of the first half of the first Kansas-TCU showdown in Lawrence when TCU punched the Jayhawks in the mouth and led 48-38 at the half only to do worse in the second half. And that’s because while it wasn’t pretty for much of it, there was an effort and scrappiness from Kansas that was missing in the first meeting.
That grit allowed KU to leave Fort Worth with a 63-58 victory while only turning it over 11 times against the best turnover-creating defense in the league and KU only hitting 3-16 from three.
The Jayhawks couldn’t get a shot to fall early, but its defense also held TCU to an 0-8 start on the offensive end. Gradey Dick hit a three for the first points of the game with 17:22 left and then hit another jumper for five straight. He would score 10 of KU’s first 12 before picking up his second foul with 9:42 left and sitting for the next four minutes.
Jalen Wilson also picked up two early fouls and only had two points in the first half, but he did grab eight first-half boards. WIth both Wilson and Dick out, this was TCU’s chance to make a run as it took its first lead of the game at 17-16 when Dick sat. But Dajuan Harris was dishing to open Jayhawks on the way to five first-half assists, including an and-one dunk to KJ Adams to give KU a 21-19 lead.
A three by TCU’s JaKobe Coles gave the Horned Frogs its biggest lead of the first half at 25-21, but KU had an immediate answer. Harris put back his own miss (a theme for the half), KEvin McCullar hit a tough jumper, and Dick answered with a runner to tie it at 27 before McCullar found Ernest Udeh for a dunk. After another Dick basket following his own miss, a TCU miss leads to McCullar finding Udeh for a wide-open dunk as time expired to give Kansas a four-point lead.
Baugh opened the second-half scoring with a three to immediately cut it to one. But Dick was fouled on a jumper on the next possession and he hit both. Wilson got called for the offensive foul with 18:32 left, his third, but the KU defense was excellent. So was dick from three. He hit his third for his 19th point to give KU a 38-32 lead.
A big rebound by KJ and outlet led to a McCulllar and-one pushed KU up six but Miles hit his second three with a Harris shot in his face to cut it to three. But KU immediately answers with a feed from McCullar to Adams.
Sloppy offense allowed TCU to chip away, cutting the Kansas lead to one coming out of the under-16 timeout. Wilson struggled mightily from the floor but did get an and-one to drop for just his fifth point of the game. Neither team could buy a basket for several minutes but a magnificent no-look pass from Harris to Rice gave KU a 47-41 lead with 12:45 left.
TCU cut it to three again on an and-one and then Rice traveled to give the ball back. But Udeh bats down a pass but Wilson can’t get it to roll. A Peavy transition basket made it 47-46 but McCullar drew a foul and free throws on the other end but only hit one. Another and-one by Coles ties the game due to another missed free throw. A heads-up bat-out by Dick led to a Harris layup and then a lost ball by Adams went right to McCullar for the layup to put KU up 52-48. Adams then picked up his fourth foul with 8:16 left.
A Harris lob to Udeh put KU up four but Wilson couldn’t finish the next time but TCU does with a Baugh three to answer. McCullar gets the roll and then Harris with an incredible finish to put KU up five. Then Wilson grabs a huge board and put-back to make it 60-53. Baugh ends the run with a running layup with just over four left.
One of two Miles free throws cuts KU’s lead to four and Dick can’t hit a wide-open shot on the other end. An extremely late and questionable foul call on Wilson – his fourth – let TCU go to the line with 1:41 left and cut it to two. Adams then got fouled on the other end and landed hard and missed the first but hit the second. A huge defensive stop gave KU the ball back but Adams can’t connect with McCullar for the lob with 35 seconds left. It might have been the dagger.
McCullar makes up for it with a huge block and tie up to give KU the ball back. TCU fouled Wilson for a one-and-one with 20.2 seconds left. But Wilson missed the front end and TCU has to heave a three but McCullar comes away with it and went to the line up three with 1.5 seconds left. McCullar hit them both to seal the win.
Dick led KU with 19 points and six boards, with McCullar the only other Hawk in double figures with 15 and seven. Harris eight assists and zero turnovers to go with six points, while Wilson had an off night where he only scored seven but grabbed 13 boards.
Kansas now has a half-game lead in the Big 12 with Texas hosting Iowa State on Tuesday.
