Jayhawks Breeze Past TCU

At first, it looked like the KU players might have collectively slept through their alarms this morning. The Jayhawks sleepwalked through the first few minutes, missing their first eight shots. Fortunately they stayed right in the game through great defense, which kept TCU's lead from advancing beyond 6-2 at the under-16 timeout. After that, it was Udoka Azubuike time. The big man took over and TCU had no answer for him. By the ten minute mark, Dok had 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, and KU was enjoying an 18-11 advantage.

The Jayhawk offense wasn't putting up huge numbers through the rest of the half, but in tandem with great defense, it was still plenty. At the under-4 it was 24-13, and by halftime Kansas led 31-18, and Dok had 14 points, nine boards and three blocks.

Kansas would generally hold a comfortable lead for the first ten minutes of the second half, but another offensive slump for Kansas gave TCU some hope. Kansas missed six straight shots, with three turnovers in that same span. Bill Self had to call timeout with 8:25 to go after the Horned Frogs cut the lead to just five, 42-37 (and yes, that means KU scored 11 points in the first 11:35 of the half).

From there, KU finally got a bucket, but couldn't kick the turnover issues. TCU refused to go away, but a 3 point play for Dotson around the 6:00 mark was followed up by a steal and fast break foul that sent Ochai Agbaji to the line. Two made free throws later, the lead was back up to nine, 49-40.

After that, Kansas got things going from three, while TCU's run of scoring plays came to a halt. KU started to run away with the game, but TCU would start pressing, something the Jayhawks didn't handle particularly well. It got them a couple buckets but this still ended up looking deceptively easy for KU, with a final score of 60-46.

Two Jayhawks ended with double doubles in this one. Obviously, Azubuike was one with 20 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks. Dotson was the other, racking up 16 points with 11 assists. Next up is the Jayhawks' second toughest remaining game on Wednesday, a road trip to West Virginia. Per the early seeding announced by the NCAA this morning, as of now it would be a battle between a 1 seed and a 2 seed.