KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas Jayhawks survived a game full of back-and-forth runs against the TCU Horned Frogs, winning 78-73 to advance in the Big 12 Tournament Thursday night.
The Jayhawks jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game, with Melvin Council, Jr. and Bryson Tiller scoring all of Kansas’ points during that run.
Kansas’ defense was flying across the court as well, forcing two turnovers in the first four minutes of the game.
As it looked like it might be a long night for the Horned Frogs, they responded with a 12-2 run to go up 12-11 at the under-12 timeout.
Darryn Peterson's free throws, his first points of the night, put Kansas up by one immediately after the timeout.
But the Jayhawks would go cold on offense after Peterson's points, leading to a scoring drought of almost 3 1/2 minutes.
TCU capitalized on KU’s scoreless stretch and went up 23-16 at the under-8 timeout.
Then, the potential No. 1 overall pick woke up.
Peterson scored five points during a 12-0 barrage by KU, including a side-step three in front of TCU’s bench.
Kansas still could not pull away despite the scoring surge, allowing TCU to close the first half on an 11-3 run.
TCU led 34-31 after the first 20 minutes of action in a first half marked by streaky scoring from both teams.
The second half started nearly identical to the first, this time with an 8-0 Kansas burst.
And just like in the first half, TCU did not go down without a fight.
The Horned Frogs clawed back in less than a minute to go up 42-40 and kept the pressure on to grab a 47-41 lead, forcing a Jayhawks timeout with a little over 14 minutes to go in the game.
Then the fouls started to pile up for TCU, which led to KU earning easy looks at the free-throw line and a three-point advantage near the 9:30 mark of the second half.
TCU would then weather those fouls and put together a 7-2 run as the clock dwindled to less than eight minutes left.
The two teams would trade free throws until Tre White's first and only three-pointer of the game gave the Jayhawks a three-point lead, which they never relinquished.
KU would go on to win 78-73 and move on to the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament for the first time since 2023.
Peterson led the way with 24 points despite shooting only 5-17 from the field. Flory Bidunga posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Bryson Tiller tacked on 13 points and eight rebounds in just 24 minutes.
Kansas will face the Houston Cougars on Friday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m.
—
