TCU Falls To No. 8 Kansas
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FORT WORTH, Texas – TCU played in front of the largest crowd in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum history Saturday night, but came up short, falling to No. 8 Kansas, 91-69.
The Horned Frogs, who moved to 9-10 overall and 0-7 in league play, tried but couldn’t repeat last year’s monumental victory Saturday night. Last season, the Jayhawks became the first top-five team to lose to the Horned Frogs in a 62-55 upset that sent shock waves throughout college basketball.
On Saturday, the Frogs had four players score in double-figures and continued to fight throughout the contest despite the final score, shooting 43.1 percent from the field, including 40 percent from behind the arc. During the second half alone, TCU shot a blistering 56 from the field, including 50 percent from three-point land, but the Jayhawks showed why they are ranked in the top-10 in the nation as they hit almost 60 percent of their shots for the game.
Freshman Brandon Parrish led the way in front of 7,494 spectators, which surpassed last year’s previous school record of 7,412 also set against the Jayhawks. Parrish tallied a team-high 15 points on 6-of-11 from the floor. Junior Amric Fields added 13 points on 5-of-10 from the field and a team-high seven rebounds. Fellow junior Kyan Anderson totaled 12 points and eight assists, while Christian Gore rounded out the Purple and White’s notables Saturday with 11 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from the field.
No. 8 Kansas (15-4; 6-0 Big 12) was carried by Andrew Wiggins’ 27 points on
8-of-13 shooting. Joel Embiid added 14 points, while Wayne Selden chipped in with 12 points.
All-out hustle by senior Jarvis Ray allowed the Frogs to get on the board early on in the second half as the senior came from behind to knock the ball away and watched as Parrish picked up the loose ball and found the bottom of the net to inch TCU closer. The freshman continued to go to work a few plays later, tickling the twine from deep, which helped put a dent into the Jayhawk lead at the 14:40 mark.
TCU would not back down midway through the second stanza of action as Gore nailed a triple and the Frogs appeared to show some life, pulling within 67-44. On the very next trip down the court, Michael Williams got into the act, draining a runner, which moved the scoreboard even closer at the 12:07 mark.
The Frogs continued to chip away at the Kansas lead at about the 10-minute mark, sinking back-to-back at the charity stripe to make it 70-50. The Purple and White would cut the lead to 19 off a Gore coast-to-coast bucket a few plays later and the Frogs appeared to be finding their way back into the contest late.
Kansas prevailed though, posting their sixth-straight conference victory.
Fields got the Frogs going early on, tickling the twine from deep to bring the scoreboard to 4-3 at the 18:38 mark. The junior would tie the score on the very next possession, knocking down one-of-two at the charity stripe, but Kansas was able to with six-straight on the other end to take a 10-4 lead early on.
The Jayhawks increased their lead to 14-6, but Karviar Shepherd would have nothing of it, powering home a layup. The Frogs would continue their hot start on the next trip down the court as Fields found cutting Parrish to beat the shot clock and pull the Frogs within 14-10 with 14:10 on the scoreboard.
The two conference foes would trade buckets midway through, but Kansas was able to push its lead to 26-12 before Gore found success, driving by a would-be defender and knocking down a running jumper with a little over eight minutes remaining in the opening frame of play, which inched the Frogs closer.
Down the stretch, Anderson dished it to Fields for a beautiful reverse layup. A few plays later, the junior continued to work, scoring on a runner, but the Jayhawks were able to take a 53-32 lead into the break.
