Kansas Jayhawks take revenge ... and a souvenir ... after defeating TCU Horned Frogs
.JPG "Kansas guard Dajuan Harris Jr. looks for an opening to the basket as TCU’s Mike Miles Jr. defends in the first half of a game on Feb. 20, 2023, in Fort Worth, Texas.")
Kansas junior point guard Dajuan Harris cradled a basketball under his left arm, holding it against his side while speaking to media members outside the visitor’s locker room following his No. 3-ranked Jayhawks’ 63-58 victory over No. 24 TCU on Monday night at Schollmaier Arena.
It was no ordinary basketball. It was one retrieved from the court by KU senior Michael Jankovich and tossed to Harris at halfcourt moments after the buzzer sounded on KU’s 23rd victory of the season in 28 tries and 11th win in 15 Big 12 outings.
“They took it (game ball) from Lawrence and posted it on social media, so we had to get it (tonight),” Harris said after scoring six points and dishing eight assists against no turnovers in a game that served as revenge for TCU’s 83-60 rout of the Jayhawks on Jan. 21 at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Horned Frogs, Harris noted, returned to Fort Worth from Lawrence with the ball used at the end of that game.
“We really wanted this win so we went and got it. We had to get that ball though,” Harris added of a ball the Jayhawks in the winner’s locker room enscripted with messages such as “Road Kill and “RCJH (Rock Chalk Jayhawk).”
Asked what was better, having the ball as a souvenir or gutting out a hard-earned win that pushed KU a half game ahead of Texas in the league standings, Harris smiled and said: “Both.”
Harris wasn’t the only person to leave Schollmaier Arena with a memento of the victory.
Guard Gradey Dick, who was one of just two Jayhawks to score in double figures (19 points to Kevin McCullar’s 15) headed to the team bus wearing one of the “Funky Town TCU” T-shirts given to the 7,831 fans who sold out the arena for the game.
Where did he find the shirt?
“They had them all over the chairs,” Dick said of thousands of shirts scattered about the building.
Dick hit 7 of 18 shots and McCullar 6 of 13 on a night the Jayhawks went 3-of-16 from three and 26-of-66 overall (for 39.4%).
This game was about defense.
The Horned Frogs (18-10, 7-8) who scored 100 points at home in a win over Oklahoma State Saturday, managed just 58 points on 30.3% shooting. TCU hit 5 of 18 threes.
Guard Mike Miles, who was guarded by Harris and McCullar, scored 13 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
“The game in Lawrence we played awful and they played great,” KU coach Bill Self said. “We didn’t do anything to make them not play great. Today at least we guarded and rebounded for 40 minutes for the most part and did a good job on guys we felt could have big nights.”
KU, which held guard Damion Baugh to 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting, “didn’t play as bad on offense as the stats show,” Self noted. “We got some great looks, missed some layups. No matter what we did offensively, score or not score, we never let them take the lead. We really guarded and Kevin McCullar was terrific.”
KU won despite scoring three points the final 4:41. Jalen Wilson (seven points on 3-of-11 shooting with 13 rebounds) put back a rebound to make it 60-53 at 4:41. KU’s next point came on a free throw by KJ Adams with 1:25 left to give KU a 61-58 advantage.
McCullar, who had the defensive play of the night, blocking a shot and tying up Baugh down low (KU got the ball on the alternate possession), hit two free throws with 1.5 seconds left to give KU a 63-58 advantage. Baugh had missed a three with five seconds left and KU up by three at that time.
“I thought we were pretty tough,” Self said. “We didn’t do a lot of stuff offensively, we just competed and Kevin McCullar was fantastic.”
Of the drought in the last five minutes Self said: “Even though we didn’t score we actually played better than that. We actually executed as well as we could. Gradey missed a wide-open three, Kevin an uncontested layup. Jalen missed a front end. We’re fortunate they missed but our defense was good. They didn’t get any easy looks.”
The game had what turned out to be a somewhat humorous moment. TCU football quarterback Max Duggan, who had been at a black-tie dinner awarding him the Davey O’Brien trophy (best QB in country) Monday night, was escorted to his courtside seat with 6:07 left and KU up 56-53.
The crowd let out its biggest roar of the night, cheering for Duggan, who arrived in a tuxedo.
.JPG "KansasTCUBasketball (1).JPG")
“The atmosphere was great, best since we’ve been here,” Self said. “Just have Max Duggan walk in every five minutes it’d be even better. What a stud he is.”
Self added, smiling: “He even looked good tonight, with his tux on. I’m just glad he didn’t get here any earlier.”
On a serious note, KU now has won five games in a row, including three straight on the road. The Jayhawks have been mentioned as a possible No. 1 seed in the NCAAs.
“I didn’t think it’d be something that would be realistic,” Self said of the team perhaps snagging a top seed. “I’m proud of this team. They’ve done great. We have not accomplished ‘jack’ but put ourselves in a favorable position to maybe do something. This league is so hard. Everybody talked the sky is falling when we lost three in a row. In this league that can happen easily. We’ve recovered well since then.”
KU will next meet West Virginia at 3 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
This story was originally published February 21, 2023 at 12:29 AM with the headline "Kansas Jayhawks take revenge ... and a souvenir ... after defeating TCU Horned Frogs."
