By Wendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
FORT WORTH, Texas – Any which way that works.
For Kansas the means to the end, the process for another victory, wasn’t attractive or memorable. The ninth-ranked Jayhawks appeared to have notched the victory column with a nine-point lead with two minutes to play but had to sweat a potential game-tying 3-pointer that clanged off the iron at the buzzer.
"I've been to the dentist and got a root canal and may have enjoyed that more than the last two minutes,” KU coach Bill Self said after his team’s 64-61 victory over TCU Wednesday.
Self might have been kidding but he probably was being serious. The Jayhawks fouled a 3-point shooter, gave up a three-point play on an offensive rebound, committed two turnovers and missed five free throws during “winning time.”
Kansas (17-3, 6-1) came to town after an impressive victory at Texas Saturday. Self admitted that he, his staff and his players were a “little full of ourselves.” TCU returned from Morgantown with a gut-punch overtime loss. The Frogs were poised to pull the kind of upset of the Jayhawks they posted in 2013.
‘These kids, me, our staff, we don’t feel good,” TCU coach Trent Johnson said. “There’s a frustration level. I hate to use that word.”
Rarely does the winning coach and the losing coach use the same word to describe an outcome.
“The whole game was frustrating,” Self said. “They played harder, they were quicker to the ball, got the 50-50 balls. We were fortunate that they shot a low percentage and missed some free throws. They out played us.”
But they didn’t win. The Frogs (14-6, 1-6) had 26 offensive rebounds … because there were plenty of misses to corral. TCU shot 30.6 percent from the field and was 15-of-29 from the line. In the one-point loss at West Virginia, the Frogs missed 16 free throws. That’s 30 misses in two losses decided by a total of four points.
"It's still a team that's learning how to win in situations like that,” said TCU senior guard Kyan Anderson, who finished with 17 points. “We’ll get there.”
Frank Mason III was the Jayhawks’ only double-figure scorer, finishing with 16. The other four KU starters totaled 13 points and the Jayhawks got 35 points from its bench. Landen Lucas had eight points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes; he didn’t play in the last two games.
“We weren’t energetic and we were soft,” Self said. “That was a pitiful energy game for us. The whole team, we didn’t play very smart.”
So, how did Kansas remain alone in first place in the Big 12?
For all their faults, the Jayhawks jumped to a 23-10 lead in the first 10 minutes. They followed that with seven empty possessions that allowed TCU to halve the lead; that was a pattern that would repeat itself.
The Frogs trailed 36-30 at halftime but scored on their first five possessions of the second half with four scores coming thanks to offensive rebounds. Trey Ziegler’s driving layup with 13:41 remaining gave TCU a 43-40 lead.
Kansas answered with its best defensive stretch of the game. The Frogs missed 16 of 18 shots as the Jayhawks fired off a 19-5 run to take a 59-48 edge on Mason’s jumper with 3:35 remaining.
“They really guard you,” said Johnson, whose team plays at Iowa State Saturday. “Their post defenders are strong and they’re sound.”
Kansas finished with 12 blocked shots by seven players. But over the last 1:46, KU caught TCU’s free throw flu and missed five of 10 at the stripe. Mason missed twice with 4.7 seconds remaining but Charles Hill’s running 3-pointer from about 35 feet clanged off the rim.
“It happens a lot to teams all across America,” Self said. “Not everybody plays good in every game. We took a step backward tonight. If you don’t come ready to play in this league, it could be a lot worse than what happened to us.
“This league is too tough to think too much about a game you’ve won, no matter how you might have played. By Friday we’ll have forgotten about this game because we’ll need to get ready for Kansas State.”