Field Level Media
Mar 4, 2020
Udoka Azubuike, the nation's most accurate shooter, went 13-for-14 and scored a career-high 31 points Wednesday in his last home game as No. 1 Kansas outlasted TCU 75-66 at Lawrence, Kan.
The victory was the 15th straight for the Jayhawks (27-3, 16-1 Big 12) and assured them at least a share of the Big 12 championship.
The conference crown is the 62nd for Kansas and 19th in the Big 12. A string of 14 consecutive Big 12 titles was snapped last season. To regain their perch, the Jayhawks have won 14 straight conference games.
In addition, Bill Self claimed his 500th win at Kansas against just 109 defeats in 17 seasons as coach. The Jayhawks padded their string of victories in home finales to 37 straight while finishing 15-1 at home this season.
Despite the big performance from Azubuike, who notched his 14th double-double by adding 14 rebounds, TCU (16-14, 7-10) led for 12-plus minutes coming off an upset of then-No. 2 Baylor on Saturday.
Devon Dotson, however, scored five points to key a 15-1 run that enabled Kansas to gain a 58-47 lead with 10:33 left. Marcus Garrett had back-to-back steals to key the beginning of that stretch and later Azubuike had back-to-back blocks.
Dotson finished with 18 points.
Desmond Bane, who trails only Dotson among Big 12 scorers, netted 24 to lead TCU. Edric Dennis added 18 points, with 15 coming in the first half.
Azubuike practiced sparingly after suffering a sprained ankle in a win Saturday at Kansas State. Nonetheless, he went 9-for-10 for 18 first-half points, including the first 10 Kansas scored.
That flurry helped the Jayhawks build an early seven-point lead, but the Frogs rallied by making nine first-half 3-pointers. Dennis canned five and Bane added four as TCU led 37-35 at the break.
The Frogs made eight straight shots during a spree that put them up 34-29 and retained the lead at halftime despite 53.6 percent shooting by the Jayhawks.
--Field Level Media