LAWRENCE, Kan. — For the first-time in program history, the TCU Horned Frogs men’s basketball team defeated Kansas at the iconic Allen Fieldhouse.
TCU was 0-11 all time in Lawrence before the streak came to a close in a dominant showing Saturday. No. 14 TCU smoked No. 2 Kansas, 83-60, and led by double digits most of the game.
“A great win for us and our program,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “We told our guys we had never won here and so did everybody else. What I’m most proud of is how we responded, we didn’t play well the other day (at West Virginia). It’s a great win for us.”
That wasn’t the only historic accomplishment by TCU. In the Bill Self era, Kansas entered the day 109-16 following a loss. The Jayhawks rarely lose two in a row, but TCU (15-4, 4-3) joined a small list of teams to beat Self coming off a defeat. Despite the final margin, there was still some stressful moments.
Against another top-10 opponent, TCU found itself trying to hold onto a massive lead in front of a sellout crowd.
Just 10 days ago against Texas, the Horned Frogs were unable to seal the deal and there were signs it would happen again Saturday.
Eddie Lampkin Jr. suffered a high ankle sprain late in the first half and was clearly hobbled in the second. TCU was without Micah Peavy for the fourth straight game and Emanuel Miller had just two points in the opening 30 minutes.
Yet with 7:22 to play, TCU held a 66-50 lead. Mike Miles Jr. hit a dagger 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired to make it 69-50 with less than six minutes remaining. Just in case there was any doubt, Miles added another bucket while being fouled for a three-point play.
Balance was the key for TCU as every player who got in the game scored. Shahada Wells led TCU with 17 points, while Miles added 15 and Damion Baugh chipped in 11.
“We came off a tough loss against West Virginia where we didn’t play hard enough,” Miles said. “We knew to beat a team like KU we had to play harder. We kept our lead, we stayed tough, stayed focus.”
Player of the Year battle
In the matchup of the two leading scorers in the Big 12, the individual edge went to Kansas’ Jalen Wilson. While it took Miles awhile to get going, Wilson was excellent in the first half. Coming off a career-high 38 points in a narrow loss to Kansas State earlier in the week, Wilson picked up right where he left off.
He scored 21 points and hit four 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. With less than five minutes to go, Wilson hit a long distance shot and added a bucket inside to make it 46-32. He hit mid-range basket just before the halftime buzzer to cut it to 10.
Miles got going much later and generally had to work harder for his points as he was the focus of the KU defense. Miles’ shot-making prowess was impressive as he hit a combination of stepback jumpers and tough drives to the basket.
In the second half, Wilson was the only reason the margin wasn’t greater in TCU’s favor. Wilson finished with 30 points and may have won the individual battle, but Miles made the key plays late and got the edge in the most important; another W in the win column for his team.
Quality start
It certainly looked like two of the best teams in the country were facing each other with the way TCU and Kansas started off the game. TCU held a small 16-13 lead at the first media timeout thanks to Baugh and Chuck O’Bannon. The duo combined for 14 of TCU’s first 16 points.
Meanwhile, Wilson was doing everything for the Jayhawks. He scored the game’s opening points and hit a 3-pointer to make it 14-13. In the opening five minutes both teams were shooting well over 80%. As the shooting cooled off a bit, TCU was able to build a bit of a lead.
Miles found an open JaKobe Coles for a corner 3 to make it 19-13. Then when Miles was matched up with Wilson, he hit the Big 12’s leading scorer with a nice crossover combo and stepback 3-pointer. The run kept going with more transition buckets as TCU found itself ahead 26-13 halfway through the first half despite just three points from Miles and Miller.
TCU led by as many as 22 in the first half and took a 48-38 lead at the half.
