By Atticai Margrave
What happens when you have a matchup between a team who doesn’t know who they are and another who plays to the level of their competition? A back and forth game of runs ending in a 78-73 Jayhawk win.
The Kansas Jayhawks started their pursuit of the Big XII Tournament title with a quarterfinals matchup Thursday night against the TCU Horned Frogs who beat Oklahoma St. the night before to secure their spot against the Jayhawks.
In the scouting report, Kansas had the clear advantage inside. That proved to be the case with the Jayhawks starting the game on a 9-0 run behind a quick six points inside from Bryson Tiller.
This was a game of runs however, and TCU would get their punches in as well in the form of David Punch, their sophomore forward who led the team with a 24 point double-double. That would continue to be the story of this one, whoever was scoring inside at the time had the momentum. With that, TCU took a slight 34-31 advantage into the half.
The battle inside wasn’t much of a battle in the second half as BIG XII Defensive Player of the Year Flory Bidunga was sitting with foul trouble in the second half. However, in the minutes he was in the game, he made his presence felt. Nine points on perfect shooting from the field, five boards, two blocks and a +16 in the second half all while playing with those extra fouls.
“To me, he’s the best defender in the country,” Coach Self said after the game. “When he came out, we just weren’t as good, bottom line.”
When the lauded best defender in the country was out, the potential best player in the country had his time to shine. Darryn Peterson finished the game with 24 points to lead Kansas, 16 of which came in the second half. Additionally he played a season-high 37 minutes. Not bad for someone who can’t stay healthy in the eyes of the media.
Despite the ugly win, Kansas will advance to play the #5 Houston Cougars, who they beat in Allen Fieldhouse Feb. 23, in the semifinals next. Bill Self’s message for that game, “Tonight was more of a ‘We gotta win, play not to lose’ type of game, tomorrow won’t be like that.”
The final story of the night was the glass LED floor that was installed specially for this tournament. After the final game of the quarterfinals, BIG XII Commissioner Brett Yormark made the tough decision to switch the last two rounds to the hardwood.
Earlier in the day All-BIG XII guard Christian Anderson went down with an apparent groin injury and did not return to the game. Additionally, players were sliding on the floor an extra amount during the games and it seemed like the floor got slightly more slick as the day went on.
Despite players saying the floor was not a concern, semifinalist coaches and the commissioner made the decision to remove the innovative floor in favor of the tried and true hardwood.
“It’s a cool looking court,” Self said, “but I’m excited the talk tomorrow will be about the semifinals as opposed to the court.”
To listen in on the Jayhawks take on Houston, tune into 90.7 FM Radio at 8:30 p.m. CST to hear Joey Bongard and Prescott Deckinger present KU Men’s Basketball.