Kansas University junior and Fort Worth, Texas, native Keith Langford made the most of his first trip home, scoring a game-high 24 points in an 85-66 victory over Texas Christian on Monday.
Langford played just six minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, but scored 17 points in the second half, and added four rebounds and four assists.
The Jayhawks, who moved to the top of AP and USA Today/ESPN polls Monday afternoon, battled the Horned Frogs through the first 24 minutes as both teams shot well from the field, but KU pulled away in the final 16 minutes when TCU’s hot shooting cooled.
KU opened with a 6-0 run on back-to-back three-pointers by Keith Langford and J.R. Giddens. The Jayhawks later extended their lead to 11 points, 19-8, on a three-pointer by Aaron Miles seven minutes in.
The Jayhawks led 21-11 when the Horned Frogs, coached by former KU assistant Neil Dougherty, went on a 9-1 run over the next five minutes, led by two three-pointers by Marcus Shropshire.
Jeff Hawkins and Giddens answered with a three-pointer each, extending KU’s lead to eight points, 30-22, before TCU used more long-distance shooting to keep the game within just a few points.
The Horned Frogs took a one-point lead briefly on a layup by Corey Santee with 1:37 left before halftime, but the Jayhawks regained the lead on a jumper by Jeff Hawkins.
KU led 39-38 at halftime, but TCU took a 41-39 lead on a three-pointer by Santee less than a minute into the half before the Jayhawks regained the lead, 43-41, and extended it to seven points, 52-45.
TCU’s shooting streak has soured in the rest of the second half, as KU has led by as many as 17 points, 75-58, with 4:30 left, and extended its lead to the final margin of 19 points.
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Hawkins finished with a career-high 19 points, including five three-pointers. Giddens had 12 points, and Wayne Simien had six points and seven boards. Simien’s consecutive free throw streak stopped at 27 when he missed a foul shot in the final few minutes.
Miles had seven points, six rebounds and seven assists, and Jeff Graves scored six points and grabbed four rebounds. David Padgett had three points and seven rebounds, and Bryant Nash had six points. Stephen Vinson also had two points.
Santee had 19 points for TCU, and Nucleus Smith had 13 points. Shropshire scored nine points, and Chudi Chinweze had five points for the Horned Frogs.
KU was 32-of-50 shooting, including 10-of-21 from three-point range, and was 11-of-14 from the charity stripe.
TCU was 24-of-61 shooting from the field, including 8-of-23 shooting from behind the arc, and 10-of-16 shooting from the free-throw line.
The Jayhawks turned the ball over nearly twice as many times (20) as the Horned Frogs (11), but won the rebounding battle easily, 38-22.
