Kansas squeaks by TCU in Ft Worth, 64-61

Early on, it appeared Kansas might coast to an early victory over TCU in Ft Worth, as they jumped out to a 23-10 lead, but things slowly deteriorated from there. Perry Ellis picked up a very quick two fouls, and Bill Self seemed content to use the opportunity to get him some rest and get some playing time for Cliff Alexander and Landen Lucas. Svi even made his first appearance in several games, hitting a three in the first half. However, the Jayhawks played with little excitement as the first half went on, and entered the locker room with just a 36-30 lead.

Ellis returned the start the second half, but TCU came out with much more fire. TCU was even able to build a small lead, 44-40, before Kansas started to turn things on again. Frank Mason repeatedly made important baskets, Landen Lucas played respectable minutes, and KU was able to generally hold TCU at arm's length down the stretch. TCU was then able to take advantage of some ugly late Kansas mistakes and make things uncomfortable near the end, battling the KU lead down to just two with 34 seconds to play, and three with 5 seconds remaining. Fortunately, TCU missed a buzzer-batter following a pair of missed Frank Mason free throws, and Kansas came away with a 64-61 victory.

The Jayhawks played very poor basketball at times, especially late in the second half, but did just enough to come away with a road win in conference. I'm not reading much into the sloppy play - this was thought of by many as a trap game going in. As long as they refocus and come out ready to play against Kansas State, this game will be forgotten as just another tough road win for Self's Jayhawks.