FORT WORTH, Texas – TCU used a strong second half Tuesday night to hold off Kansas, 74-64, at Schollmaier Arena in the first of two straight games between the foes.
The Jayhawks dropped to 23-6 on the season and 12-4 in Big 12 play, while the Horned Frogs won their second straight game over a Top 10 team to improve to 19-9 and 8-8 in the conference.
TCU was led by sophomore guard Mike Miles, who led all scorers with 19 points, while adding six assists in 34 minutes. Jalen Wilson and Ochai Agbaji both had 13 points to lead Kansas. Agbaji had eight rebounds, while Wilson had seven.
The first half was a competitive one with the Jayhawks taking a 35-34 lead into the locker room, thanks to nine points and five rebounds from Wilson and five points from sub Mitch Lightfoot.
The hosts took an early lead on the Jayhawks, before Kansas took its first lead of the game at the 15:54 mark of the first half when Wilson hit a 3-pointer off an assist from Dajuan Harris to go up 8-7. After the two teams traded buckets, Agbaji hit a 3-pointer to put the Jayhawks up 13-9.
Following a turnover from TCU’s Jakobe Coles, Wilson scored again on a layup to make it 15-9, Kansas, equaling the largest lead of the half for the Jayhawks at six. Kansas led until the 9:36 mark of the half when Francisco Farabello hit a layup to tie the game at 20.
The two teams went back and forth before the Horned Frogs built a five-point lead at 34-29 with 1:53 to play in the first. But that’s when Agbaji and Jalen Coleman-Lands hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Kansas up one at the break.
The Jayhawks extended their lead to three in the first minute of the second half, courtesy of two free throws from David McCormack. But TCU scored the next four points to take a 38-37 lead with 18:25 to play and never trailed again.
Kansas trailed by just three with 12:12 to play after a layup from Joseph Yesufu, but Damien Baugh hit a layup for TCU 40 seconds later to extend the lead back to five. The Horned Frogs eventually pushed the lead to 12 on two separate occasions, including leading 63-51 with 4:39 to play.
Coach Bill Self’s team had one final run in it. Christian Braun hit a 3-pointer with 1:05 left to make it a five-point game. After one free throw from Baugh, Agbaji hit two free throws to get it to four, 68-64, with 47 seconds left. But TCU scored the final six points of the game for the 74-64 win.
McCormack had 11 points and eight rebounds in the loss, while Braun also reached double digits with 10 points. Harris led the team with seven assists.
UP NEXT:
The Jayhawks will play the Horned Frogs for a second-straight game; this time at Allen Fieldhouse. Tip-off is scheduled for Thursday, March 3 at 7 p.m., on Big 12 Now on ESPN-Plus.
