Azubuike earns top spot with dominant effort in 60-46 win at TCU

By Matt Tait     Feb 8, 2020

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Kansas center Udoka Azubuike (35) dunks against TCU defenders guard Edric Dennis (2), PJ Fuller (4,) Kevin Samuel (21) and Charles O'Bannon Jr. (5) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Ron Jenkins)

**1 – Udoka Azubuike -** Dominated stretches of this game, including early on after KU started very slow. Wasn’t his best game by any means, but his numbers were good and he competed throughout. 20 points, 15 rebounds, 5 blocks.

**2 – Devon Dotson -** The only other Jayhawk who could consistently score in this one, Dotson didn’t let his offensive burden take his mind off of his defense. Finished with 18 points and 11 assists, with 3 steals and 5 turnovers.

**3 – David McCormack -** He wasn’t great, but on a day when very few other players were, McCormack gave KU quality minutes in limited time. Nowhere was that more obvious than midway through the second half when he became the only Jayhawk not named Azubuike or Dotson to score a bucket to that point with a big jumper out of a timeout. Finished with 6 points and 4 rebounds in 8 minutes.

**4 – Marcus Garrett -** It wasn’t his typical fill-up-the-stat-sheet kind of game, but it also wasn’t a typical game. Still, Garrett played well defensively, making Desmond Bane work for everything he got, and also ran the offense at times.

**5 – Ochai Agbaji -** Didn’t shoot it well but did get one to fall late and also played hard defensively from start to finish. Was just 2-for-6 from the floor, but blocked a shot and picked up 2 steals as a result of his strong effort.

**6 – Isaiah Moss -** Knocked in a few 3-pointers, which came at key times, but made far too many mistakes and careless plays on defense to be ranked any higher. Shot 3-of-11 from the floor (3-of-8 from 3-point range) and fouled four times while turning it over twice.

**7 – Tristan Enaruna -** Got some legit minutes in the first half and looked good in them. Fell back into his more passive approach as the game went on, but that early stretch was a good sign, albeit a small one, for his continued development.

**8 – Christian Braun -** Didn’t do much on either end and caught the wrath of Bill Self on a couple of occasions. Beyond that, he started the second half on the bench instead of on the floor. Shot 0-of-2 from the floor with 2 turnovers in 20 minutes.

Season Standings
———–

1 – Udoka Azubuike – 163

2 – Marcus Garrett – 149

3 – Devon Dotson – 148

4 – Ochai Agbaji – 127

5 – Isaiah Moss – 100

6 – David McCormack – 98z

7 – Christian Braun – 84

8 – Tristan Enaruna – 58

9 – Silvio De Sousa – 47+

10 – Jalen Wilson – 2x

*x = broke his ankle 20 seconds into the second game of the season and is expected to be out at least three months.*

*+ = suspended for 12 games following KU’s 81-60 win over Kansas State on Jan. 21, 2020.*

*z = suspended for 2 games following KU’s 81-60 win over Kansas State on Jan. 21, 2020.*

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.