No. 2 Kansas flirted dangerously close with a rare home loss on Saturday, but successfully wiggled out of an upset bid from TCU, winning 83-81 over the unranked Horned Frogs and extending in the process its winning streak in conference openers to 33 games. The Jayhawks, who led for the majority of the game, flailed to the finish line with a flurry of turnovers and costly mistakes defensively, but scooted by with a narrow win thanks to a lay-in from senior Hunter Dickinson with 3.4 seconds remaining that served as the go-ahead basket.
TCU trailed for 24 minutes of game action but kept it within two possessions for the entirety of the game and was ready to pounce in primetime down the stretch. Tenacious senior guard Trevian Tennyson led the charge in enemy territory with 19 of his 24 points coming in the second half. Tennyson accounted for six of the team's eight made 3-pointers and all five of the teams made shots from deep in the second half.
HUNTER DICKINSON IS CLUTCH 🎯 @KUHoops pic.twitter.com/pFv2aESygn
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) January 6, 2024
The dominance of Dickinson was the story of the day, so it was only fitting that his heroics in crunch time dealt TCU the final blow inside Allen Fieldhouse. Dickinson finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds in 35 minutes, one point shy of his season-best, giving him his ninth double-double in a Jayhawks uniform since transferring in from Michigan in the offseason.
Kansas made life harder on itself than it needed to in what turned out to be an ugly win, giving the ball away 18 times, of which TCU converted into 22 points. TCU, meanwhile, committed just nine turnovers, nearly overcoming its mismatch in the paint with smart ball-handling and hot shooting.
Kansas with the win improved to 307-17 under Hall of Fame coach Bill Self in games played inside historic Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks are 8-0 on the season inside Allen Fieldhouse, keeping alive the chance to have an eighth undefeated season at home since Self took over the program in 2003.