13-straight: No. 3 Kansas nets historic win over TCU, 87-68

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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas basketball clinched at least a share of the 2016-17 Big 12 regular-season title with a 87-68 win over TCU on Wednesday night inside Allen Fieldhouse. The historic win gives KU 13-straight Big 12 regular-season titles, tying UCLA (1967-79) for the most consecutive conference titles in college basketball history.

“It has been an unbelievable run but if you watch that video (played inside Allen Fieldhouse after the game) you can understand why you’d win 13,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “There has been a lot of hard-rocking guys that have played here over that time frame. We’ve been really blessed to coach a lot of really good players.”

Kansas (25-3, 13-2 Big 12) kept the 13-year streak alive behind 20 points from National Player of the Year front-runner Frank Mason III and the 10th double-double of the season from freshman phenom Josh Jackson (15 points and 11 rebounds).

Junior guard Devonte’ Graham added 17 points with a game-high seven assists, and sophomore forward Carlton Bragg Jr. tied his career high of 15 points with seven rebounds in 22 minutes.

The Jayhawks have won an NCAA-leading 60 overall regular-season conference titles, which includes 17 crowns as a member of the Big 12 Conference.

Brandon Rush addresses the Allen Fieldhouse crowd at his jersey retirement ceremony.

Alex Robinson had 15 points for the Horned Frogs (17-11, 6-9), who fall to 0-6 in Allen Fieldhouse. Jaylen Fisher added 11 points and JD Miller had 10.

Mason registered 13 points in the first half and Graham sparked KU’s offense with a trio of first-half 3-pointers, but it wasn’t until the second half when Kansas pulled away to a double-figure lead.  

KU went into halftime with a narrow 40-39 advantage after Mason drained a 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining before the break.

The Jayhawks turned up the volume in the second half to the tune of 55 percent shooting, while holding TCU to a 37 percent second-half shooting clip. KU flushed seven dunks and outrebounded TCU, 25-12, in the second half to overpower the Horned Frogs down the stretch.

Jackson briefly left the court in the first half after aggravating his ankle, but he showed no signs of slowing down as he elevated to dunk a pass from Mason with 16:05 remaining to spark an 8-0 run by the Jayhawks.

The run allowed Kansas to open up a wider scoring margin during a game in which neither team had led by more than five points to that point.  

Jackson showed his versatility in the second half with a series of impressive assists, including alley-oop passes to Bragg and sophomore guard Lagerald Vick.

Junior guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk all but clinched KU’s 13th-straight title with a 3-point dagger to give Kansas a resounding 78-64 lead with 3:19 remaining. The Jayhawks added a dunk by Jackson and another 3-pointer by Mason to take a 19-point lead, 83-64 with 1:55 remaining.

Before the final buzzer KU’s “red team” got a chance to play as Tucker Vang, Tyler Self, Clay Young, Dwight Coleby, and Mitch Lightfoot checked-in for the final minute of regulation. Young scored his first points of the game with a pair of free throws and Coleby finished the game with a put-back dunk to steal the victory.

KU’s 13 Big 12 regular-season trophies were carted out onto James Naismith Court after the game for the postgame celebration.

BRANDON RUSH’S JERSEY RETIRED
Former Kansas standout Brandon Rush saw his No. 25 jersey retired at halftime, becoming the third No. 25 to be retired and hang in the south end of Allen Fieldhouse. He joined B.H. Born, who played at Kansas from 1952-54 and Danny Manning (1985-88).

Rush was a three-time All-Big 12 First Team selection in his three seasons at Kansas, and was a two-time Wooden Award All-American in 2007 and 2008.

Rush ranks 23rd on the KU career scoring list with 1,477 points. His 205 3-point field goals are fifth all-time at KU while his 43.5 percentage from 3-point range ranks third on the KU charts.

UP NEXT
Kansas will play at Texas on Saturday, Feb. 25 on ESPN and host Oklahoma for Senior Night on ESPN Big Monday, Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. KU concludes the regular season at Oklahoma State on Saturday, March 4 at 5 p.m., on ESPN. Kansas will then play in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Big 12 Championship with Jayhawks’ first game on March 9 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

GAME NOTES

KU STARTERS (CONSECUTIVE / SEASON / CAREER STARTS):
Sr. G Frank Mason III (102 / 28 / 105)
Jr. G Devonte’ Graham (35 / 28 / 64)
Jr. G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (18 / 18 / 24)
Fr. G Josh Jackson (28 / 28 / 28)
Sr. C Landen Lucas (17 / 24 / 55)

SERIES INFO

• Kansas is now 14-1 against TCU all-time and has won 10 straight against the Horned Frogs.
• As members of the Big 12, KU now leads the series 10-1, including a 5-0 record in Allen Fieldhouse.
• Since TCU joined the Big 12 in 2012-13, Kansas has defeated the Horned Frogs by an average margin of 20.2 points in the five games played in Allen Fieldhouse.
• Kansas head coach Bill Self is now 18-4 all-time against TCU, including 11-1 while at Kansas.

ATTENDANCE:16,300 (257th-consecutive sellout)

KANSAS’ WIN…

• Gave Kansas at least a share of the 2016-17 Big 12 regular-season championship which is its 13th-straight, 17th Big 12 and 60th overall league regular-season title.
• Made Kansas 25-3 overall and gave KU 24 wins for the 12th-consecutive season, starting in 2005-06.
• Give KU 13 league wins for the 12th-straight season, starting in 2005-06.
• Made Kansas 14-1 in home games this season, including 13-1 in Allen Fieldhouse.
• Improved Self to 410-86 at KU and 617-191 overall.
• Made KU 2,211-839 all-time.

TEAM NOTES

• After neither team was able to build a lead of more than five points through the first 24 minutes of the game, the Jayhawks put together a 15-4 run to push their lead to double-digits for the first time with 14:18 remaining in the game.
• Kansas trailed in the rebound battle at halftime 26-18, however reversed that trend in the second half, outrebounding the visitors 25-12. KU ended the game with a 43-38 advantage, marking the 14th time the Jayhawks have won the rebounding battle this season.
• The Jayhawks shot 70 percent (19-of-27) at the free throw line, marking the ninth Big 12 game KU has been 70 percent or better from the charity stripe. Kansas only saw three games in the nine conference games this season when it made 70 percent or more.
• Kansas was 16-of-29 (55.2 percent) from the field in the second half. It marked the first half the Jayhawks hit better than 50 percent of their tries since they converted on 70 percent (19-of-27) in the first half of their eventual overtime loss to Iowa State on Feb. 4.
• The Jayhawks’ 22 bench points were their most since the KU bench also tallied 22 points in the first meeting with TCU on Dec. 30. The Kansas bench has now outscored its opponents’ bench in five-straight games.
• Kansas’ 19-point victory was its largest in Big 12 play this season and marked its biggest margin of victory since the Jayhawks defeated UMKC by 43 points on Dec. 6, 2016. Ten of KU’s 15 Big 12 games have been decided by six points or fewer, including each of its previous seven contests prior to Wednesday.

OPPONENT NOTES

• TCU’s eight blocks were the most by a Kansas opponent this season.
• The Horned Frogs were just 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from 3-point range, the lowest 3-point percentage by a KU opponent in Big 12 play.
• After scoring a career-high 28 points in his first match-up against the Jayhawks on Dec. 30, junior F Vladimir Brodziansky was held to just eight points on 4-of-11 shooting.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Senior G Frank Mason III

• Mason III converted from beyond the 3-point arc for the 25th-straight game, ending his night with a 4-of-6 clip from 3-point range. He has now made 53.6 percent (37-for-69) of his 3-point attempts in Big 12 play.
• Mason III’s 20 points pulled his career total to 1,701, which puts him in 12th position on the all-time Kansas scoring list.
• Mason III has now led KU in scoring in 20 of 28 games this season, including 10 of the last 14 contests. Mason has 16 games of 20 or more points, including six of his last eight outings.

Junior G Devonte’ Graham

• Graham amassed seven assists and committed only one turnover. In his last four outings he is boasting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.6:1.
• Graham has now made multiple 3-pointers in each of his last nine games and 13 of his last 14 outings.

Freshman G Josh Jackson

• Jackson’s 11 rebounds moved him from 10th to 6th on the Kansas freshman rebounds list. He now has pulled down 198 rebounds this season.
• Jackson exited the game due to an injury with 11:37 remaining in the first half. After returning at the 6:58 mark, he went on to tally 12 points and 10 rebounds for the rest of the game. He finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
• Jackson now has six double-doubles in his last eight games and has amassed 10 double-doubles on the season, seven against Big 12 foes.
• With his six field goals, Jackson now resides in fourth on KU’s freshman field goals made list with 176. He trails Danny Manning, who holds the Kansas freshman field goals made record, by 33.
• Jackson is 17-for-32 (53.1 percent) from 3-point range in his last 10 games.

Sophomore F Carlton Bragg Jr.

• Bragg’s 15 points tied a season and career high.
• Bragg converted 7-of-10 field goal attempts on the night. His seven field goals were a career high.
• Bragg logged 22 minutes, his most since he saw 27 minutes against Siena on Nov. 18.
• Bragg’s three blocks also tied his career and season highs. He also posted three rejections against Oklahoma on Jan. 10.

Senior C Landen Lucas

• Lucas’ 17 minutes were his fewest played since reentering the starting lineup against UNLV on Dec. 22. Prior to Wednesday, Lucas was averaging 29.8 minutes per game in that 16-game span.

Junior G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk

• Mykhailiuk hit 2-of-4 from 3-point range, marking his 20th game this season converting on two or more 3-pointers.

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