🏀 KU Defense Locks Down TCU, Self Claims Win No. 700

FORT WORTH, Texas – Double-double outings from senior Udoka Azubuike and sophomore Devon Dotson were enough to push the No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks to a 60-46 win over the TCU Horned Frogs Saturday inside Schollmaier Arena. Azubuike led KU with 20 points and the KU defense limited TCU to a season-low 46 points as Jayhawk head coach Bill Self claimed the 700^th victory of his collegiate coaching career.

The win moved Kansas to 20-3 on the year and 9-1 in Big 12 play, while TCU fell to 13-10 in its season and 4-6 in the league

MOMENT OF THE GAME
After TCU cut the KU lead to just four points, 44-40, with seven minutes to play, the Jayhawk defense came alive. KU forced four-straight TCU turnovers, starting with a Marcus Garrett steal that led to a Devon Dotson and-one basket that kicked off a 12-0 KU run to put the Horned Frogs away for good. From the seven-minute mark to the final buzzer, the KU defense allowed just two TCU field goals, helping the Jayhawks close the game on a 16-6 run.

STAT OF THE GAME
46 – The Jayhawks held TCU to just 46 points on the day, a season-low for the Horned Frogs and the fewest by a KU opponent since 2015. The number also marked the fewest points conceded by a KU team in a Big 12 road game since 2013, when KU held Texas Tech to 46 points in a 61-46 win in Lubbock. The Jayhawks have now held 13 of their 23 opponents this season to fewer than 60 points. Saturday’s game marked the first second time in 2019-20 that the KU defense has held a Big 12 opponent to 50 or fewer points (Oklahoma, 1/27/20).

NOTES – Full Notes

With the win, KU head coach Bill Self claimed his 700th career coaching victory, improving his overall record to 700-219 in his 27th season as a DI head coach.
Self’s 700 wins have come by way of stops at Oral Roberts (55-54), Tulsa (74-27), Illinois (78-24) and now Kansas (493-109).
Self became the 31st person to hit the 700-win plateau at the NCAA Division I level and the eighth-active head coach.
The win made Kansas 20-3 overall, giving it 20 wins for the 31st-straight season beginning in 1989-90, which would add to its active NCAA record of consecutive 20-win seasons and tie the all-time NCAA record for consecutive 20-win seasons with North Carolina which won 31 from 1971-2001.
KU held its opponent under 60 points for the 13th time this season, with a record of 12-1 in those match-ups this season and a 180-2 clip in the Self era.
Kansas has now held 14 of its 23 opponents this season to below 40% shooting, as the Horned Frogs converted just 19-of-54 of their shots from the field, or 35.2%.
KU also held its 15th opponent of the season to 30% or less from beyond the 3-point arc, as TCU made 22.7% (5-of-22) Saturday afternoon.
Senior Udoka Azubuike posted his 10th double-double of the season and 17th of his career.
Azubuike became the sixth Big 12 player in the league’s history to post at least 20 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks in a conference game. Of those six, three were Kansas players. The last time a KU player did this in any game was Nick Collison (24 pts, 16 rbs, 7 blks) vs. Oklahoma State on March 1, 2003.
Devon Dotson turned in his second-career double-double, with his previous coming in last season’s 25-point, 10-rebound effort at TCU.
Dotson’s 11 assists were a career-high and the most by a Jayhawk since Devonte’ Graham posted 13 helpers against West Virginia on March 10, 2018 in the Big 12 Championship final.

QUOTE OF THE GAME – Full Quotes

"He ran the floor, he protected the rim and the lane ... him getting 14 shots will always be good for us because he’s obviously going to make a high percentage because of where he shoots it from. I thought he played terrific."
Bill Self on Udoka Azubuike

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will journey to West Virginia to take on the No. 13/11 Mountaineers at WVU Coliseum on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. (CT) on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Kansas is 13-5 all-time against WVU, which includes a 60- 53 win in this season’s first meeting on Jan. 4 in Lawrence. The Jayhawks are 2-5 versus West Virginia in meetings in Morgantown, but have just one win at WVU Coliseum since 2013.

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