Darryn Peterson scored 16 of his 24 points after halftime to help No. 14 Kansas survive with a hard-fought 78-73 win over TCU in the final Big 12 tournament quarterfinal Thursday in Kansas City, Mo.
Peterson was an inefficient 5-for-17 from the floor but made up for it by making 13 of 16 free throws in 37 minutes of action. He added eight rebounds and three steals for third-seeded Kansas (23-9), which will face second-seeded and fifth-ranked Houston in the late semifinal on Friday.
Flory Bidunga contributed 13 points, 10 boards and three blocks, and Elmarko Jackson and Bryson Tiller chipped in 13 apiece to help Kansas win consecutive games for the first time in more than a month.
David Punch led sixth-seeded TCU (22-11) with 24 points — 18 of which came in the second half — and 10 rebounds. Liutauras Lelevicius added 14 points and Jayden Pierre tallied 13 with a team-high three 3-pointers for the Horned Frogs, whose six-game winning streak was snapped.
After a closely contested second half in which neither team led by more than six points, Kansas scored six straight points capped by a Tiller dunk to take a 70-63 lead with 3:22 left.
A 2:41 Kansas scoring drought followed, but TCU was unable to take advantage, missing four straight shots and turning it over five times in the final 4:20. The Horned Frogs finished with 14 turnovers, 11 of which came after halftime.
TCU’s Micah Robinson made a 3-pointer with seven seconds left, and Punch sank another after two Kansas free throws to get the Horned Frogs within 76-73. Jackson iced the game with two more free throws, finishing 10-for-10 from the stripe.
Kansas shot just 37.9% from the floor overall and 23.5% (4 of 17) from 3-point range. The Jayhawks scored 26 of their 47 second-half points at the free-throw line, where they shot 81.1% overall (30 of 37).
Despite trailing 9-0 in the opening minutes, TCU took a 34-31 lead into halftime thanks to a Pierre 3-pointer with 13 seconds left. The Horned Frogs overcame a 12-0 Kansas run midway through the half.
TCU turned it over just three times in the half but shot 39.4% from the floor and 38.5% (5 of 13) from outside the arc.
Lelevicius was the lone exception to that lesser shooting, making 4 of 5 field-goal attempts and both 3-point tries on the way to a game-high 11 first-half points.
Peterson led the Jayhawks with eight first-half points, helping them overcome Bidunga’s early foul trouble. Bidunga picked up a pair of fouls in the first 10 minutes of the game.
