Kansas trailed by as many as 16 points on Tuesday night, including by 13 with four minutes to go, but completed a wild comeback to beat TCU in overtime, 104-100, at Allen Fieldhouse.
KU guard Darryn Peterson came back from another late-game absence to hit three free throws and tie the game with 1.7 seconds to go. He finished the game with 32 points, but did not play in overtime, when Melvin Council Jr. helped steer the Jayhawks to their wild victory.
“It really happened in the huddle,” Council said of the comeback. “Me and Flory, we got into it. And ever since that, we just took off. This team can do a lot of things, when we all focus up and stuff like that and communicate. And it shows that we got fight and grit.”
The Horned Frogs grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and turned them into 20 second-chance points. David Punch presented consistent matchup problems for the Jayhawks and scored 20 with nine boards, and Micah Robinson added 16 and eight off the bench. Liutaras Lelevicius, however, was particularly deadly late in regulation and went 5-for-6 from beyond the arc with a team-high 23 points. But Punch and Lelevicius both went scoreless in overtime, as Punch was battling cramps.
“They played great,” KU coach Bill Self said. “They only shoot 23 3s a game and average making eight, and they make 15 on us and shot 20 the first half, so our defense was awful. And we were soft and we didn’t rebound, and not very competitive — a lot of things. Pouty. Body language sucked.
“And then for some reason the switch flipped, and then down the stretch a couple of good things happened. The next thing you know, the crowd feels it a little bit and guys start playing with reckless abandon and played great. It was as good an exciting win as we’ve had. I think the probability to win tonight was probably less than the West Virginia game, even, several years ago (in 2017).”
Council finished with 18 and Tre White supplemented his and Peterson’s clutch performances with 22 for the Jayhawks, who after allowing TCU’s massive run did not get within single digits of the Frogs until there was 3:10 remaining, then completed an improbable comeback to force overtime, mostly with Peterson off the floor.
“We just found lightning in a bottle there for 10 minutes,” Self said.
After its uncharacteristic lapses in Saturday’s loss at UCF, the Kansas defense did not get off to a promising start on Tuesday, but the Jayhawks managed to enter the first media timeout tied at 11 thanks to four points from Peterson and a tough three-point play from Bryson Tiller.
KU pulled ahead briefly but then allowed 3-pointers to Xavier Edmonds and Robinson. Punch led all players at the under-12 timeout with six points and TCU ahead 19-17.
Lelevicius heated up from deep soon afterward, and his second 3-pointer of the night forced Self to call timeout when TCU took its largest lead of the first half at 28-20.
White was KU’s scoring leader in the early going, and he helped the Jayhawks draw closer with a stepback jumper from beyond the arc that made it 32-29, as TCU went three minutes without a field goal.
Peterson made one 3 from the left wing but missed another from the same spot that could have given KU the lead. He didn’t squander his next chance, converting a difficult scoop shot at the rim to put the Jayhawks ahead 37-36. That was part of an eventual 9-0 run to close the half, one that featured impeccable defense in the final two minutes, including blocks by Council and Bidunga and a steal by White. Edmonds’ straight-on 3 was off the mark with two seconds left as KU took a five-point lead into the break.
Peterson led all scorers with 14 points in his 16 first-half minutes despite shooting just 3-for-10 from the field, as he relentlessly drew fouls on the Frogs, both with his drives to the rim and by simply running around the perimeter as TCU attempted to double-team him. White had 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting.
KU’s newfound advantage did not last long. The Horned Frogs scored the first two buckets of the second half on putbacks, then went ahead on a drive by Jayden Pierre.
The teams traded buckets, and Peterson put KU back ahead briefly at 50-49, but Punch continued to torment the Jayhawks inside and he responded with a three-point play. He added two more free throws to give him nine points in the first 5:34 of the second half.
That was part of a 10-0 run, capped off by Pierre’s pull-up 3-pointer, that stretched the Horned Frogs’ lead all the way to nine. Tanner Toolson connected on a corner 3 at the end of the shot clock not long afterward. By the time Peterson hit a leaning jumper with less than 12 minutes remaining, TCU led by 16 points.
With TCU up 75-60 out of the under-eight timeout, Peterson knocked down one 3 and he and Council each had an open look at another, but neither could get KU within single digits.
KU had the ball back down nine, but Council got blocked at the rim, and then Peterson had to exit after he didn’t turn around to look for a pass by Elmarko Jackson.
Late 3-pointers by White and Jamari McDowell kept KU within striking distance, and Council made it a three-point game with 37.2 to go. Brock Harding missed the front end of a one-and-one, but White couldn’t knock down the left-wing 3 after attempting to draw a foul on the ensuing possession.
TCU avoided a five-second violation with a timeout with 6.1 seconds to go. Then Harding tried to pass it in to Punch, but it hit him in the hands and went out for a turnover.
With 5.4 left, and KU needing a 3, Peterson returned to the floor. Bidunga was able to hand the ball off to him, and he drew a foul while tossing up an attempt from beyond the arc. He calmly drained all three free throws. The Frogs gave the ball away with an ill-advised baseball pass, but Peterson’s shot at the buzzer was short.
In overtime, Council put KU ahead 92-89 with a three-point play. The Jayhawks appeared to force a shot-clock violation on the next possession, but White was called for a foul trying to prevent a putback in the final tenths of a second, and Toolson made both free throws.
Bidunga responded with a putback of his own.
“We as a team did a poor job defensively (rebounding),” Bidunga said. “They beat us on that obviously, but I was just trying to get back at it, at least. I knew I gave up some offensive rebounds, but at least trying to save myself and grab one or two. And then that was like what I was thinking about.”
Council added one of two free throws, and Bidunga rebounded the second, setting up another bucket for Council to make it 97-91 with a minute to go.
“I got to take over,” Council said of his mindset in the extra period. “You know, I cost us the UCF game, should have took over that game, but we can’t get that game back. But I got to just move forward one game at a time. But I just had to just take over and win it.”
Pierre knocked down an immediate 3-pointer to put the Frogs back in contention. Council beat the press with a lob to White, but Harding responded with another 3.
Council made one of two free throws again to make it 100-97. TCU had a chance but an immediate steal by Jackson gave the ball right back to the Jayhawks.
“I was telling him, ‘Yo, come on, we got to lock in,'” Council said. “Because me and Marko are the best defensive players. So when he go, it’s fun to watch him. And when he got that steal, that was great.”
Added Self: “Elmarko has potential to be a really good defensive guard and he doesn’t do it consistently, but he did that.”
Council made both free throws, only for Pierre to knock down another 3-pointer.
McDowell went to the line next and drained both free throws with 9.3 left in overtime for the final points of the night.
“The best thing that potentially happened tonight was we became a team,” Self said. “That’s the best thing that potentially happened. But it remains to be seen if we are, but that was pretty special.”
Both Self and Council credited it to the late Scott “Scooter” Ward, a beloved former KU athletic official who died on Saturday, and in whose honor the Jayhawks are now wearing an “SW” jersey patch: “He was definitely with us the whole night,” Council said.
“Whatever the announced attendance was tonight, we had plus one, and I think that probably had as much to do with it as anything,” Self said. “Maybe our No. 1 fan for the last quarter-century was looking down on us.”
The Jayhawks, who are now 11-14, will travel to West Virginia to face the Mountaineers on Saturday at 11 a.m. Central time. WVU improved to 10-5 (1-1 Big 12) on Tuesday night by beating Cincinnati 62-60.
