TCU basketball unable to mount another comeback as No. 6 KU rolls in Big 12 semis
TCU basketball didn’t have another miraculous comeback in it.
A day after battling back from a 20-point deficit to stun No. 22 Texas in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, TCU found itself in a 19-point hole against No. 6 Kansas in the first half of a semifinal matchup Friday night.
The Frogs chipped away at the deficit, cutting it to single digits early in the second half, but the Jayhawks were always in control. KU eventually pulled away for a 75-62 victory in front of a pro-Jayhawk crowd at the T-Mobile Center.
“Certainly I anticipated us playing better than we did, but they took it to us,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “Far more physical team than us tonight. Obviously we had two incredible games last week against them, but tonight we just didn’t have it and they did.”
KU (27-6) advances to the championship game where it’ll face the winner of the Texas Tech-Oklahoma game. The Jayhawks have a potential 1-seed at stake in the NCAA Tournament.
TCU (20-12), meanwhile, will now await its March Madness fate on Selection Sunday.
KU took control of the game in the first half, leading by as many as 19 points. The Jayhawks shot 63% from the field in the opening half, which helped them go on a couple of big runs. They scored six unanswered to take a 44-25 lead at the 1:14 mark.
TCU trimmed the deficit to 44-30 by halftime, scoring the final five points of the half.
The Frogs showed life early in the second half, too, opening 5 for 5 from the field. A 3-pointer by Chuck O’Bannon Jr. pulled TCU to within 52-44 with 16:19 left.
But things unraveled after that. KU went on an 11-1 run to build a 63-45 lead with 12 minutes left. TCU had a four-possession stretch in which it had a turnover, blocked shot, blocked shot and shot-clock violation.
As Dixon said, it simply wasn’t TCU’s night. That message was echoed by the players afterward too.
“We were focused on cutting the lead that they had, and we couldn’t get it. It was frustrating,” said O’Bannon, who scored a team-high 15 points. “There were times that I felt we ran out of gas. At the same time, we know what we’re capable of and we hope to fix that.”
KU coach Bill Self felt his team “caught a break” by playing TCU a day after it overcame a 20-point deficit.
“They had to expend so much energy yesterday to have a great win against Texas,” Self said. “We didn’t have to expend quite as much energy. I thought that was a difference early.”
TCU and KU were playing for the third time in 11 days as the teams split the regular-season series. The Frogs defeated the Jayhawks in Fort Worth on March 1, turning it over only seven times that night.
But TCU turned it over 15 times in a loss at KU on March 3, and struggled with turnovers once again Friday. The Frogs had 18 turnovers, which the Jayhawks turned into 23 points. TCU also went 10 of 21 from the free-throw line and had just one fast-break point.
“They made free throws; we didn’t. They made layups; we didn’t. They made 3s; we made a couple,” Dixon said. “It’s the defense. There was no way we were going to win if we didn’t guard, and we didn’t guard. Give them credit. They made the shots. You’ve got to make them.
“We have a tendency to think it can be done another way, and today we tried that and it didn’t work.”
KU’s Ochai Agbaji, the Big 12’s player of the year, scored a game-high 22 points. Jayhawks forward Mitch Lightfoot added a career-high 15 points.
For TCU, it’s on to March Madness. Most projections have the Frogs slated for a 7- to 10-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s about to be very exciting,” O’Bannon said. “Coach Dixon has been there multiple times, so he knows what to expect. We don’t, so we’re feeding off him.”
The first-round games will be played next Thursday and Friday at eight sites across the country. Fort Worth is among the eight cities hosting the opening weekend at Dickies Arena, but TCU won’t get the hometown draw as the host school.
So the Frogs will land in one of the following cities: Indianapolis, San Diego, Pittsburgh, Greenville, S.C., Buffalo, Portland or Milwaukee.
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 8:08 PM.
