photo by: AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

Kansas forward Flory Bidunga (40) looks to make a pass as TCU's Noah Reynolds (21) defends in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025.

Fort Worth, Texas — The crowd at Schollmaier Arena was energetic as it had been all Wednesday night, fired up by TCU’s renewed on-court vigor, until a pair of much-maligned Jayhawks combined to put Kansas back in front midway through the second half.

AJ Storr hit a deep stepback jumper, David Coit drained a 3-pointer in transition, and then Storr swiped the ball from Vasean Allette, eventually scoring on a putback. The run of seven straight points fueled a massive run that turned a 48-47 deficit into a 61-50 lead.

After trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, 12th-ranked Kansas finished with a 13-point win, 74-61.

It was a night of notable stats for KU in an all-around team effort: Storr reached double figures for the first time since Jan. 5, Shakeel Moore did so for the first time as a Jayhawk and freshman Flory Bidunga posted his first-ever double-double.

Even with such a wide-ranging array of contributors, center Hunter Dickinson persisted as KU’s leading scorer, totaling 16 on the night. Zeke Mayo completed the quintet of Jayhawks in double digits with 12 points.

For TCU, Noah Reynolds nearly matched Dickinson with his 14, and Vasean Allette scored 13 while Wenzel added 11.

A turnover-laden start prevented either team from making a field goal for two and a half minutes before Ernest Udeh Jr. finished an alley-oop from Allette. KU went down 8-4 when TCU forward David Punch, who had previously been 1-for-7 on 3-pointers all season, hit one late in the shot clock. Then Udeh outmaneuvered Dickinson for an offensive rebound and converted a three-point play. That run of six straight extended into an overall 15-2 stretch before Coit sank a pair of free throws, his first since mid-November, to make it 18-8.

The Horned Frogs took their biggest lead of the night thus far when top scorer Reynolds, who had missed much of the start of the game due to foul trouble, made it 24-10 with a transition layup. KU showed its first signs of life, though, when center Hunter Dickinson got involved for his first five points of the game and Rylan Griffen drained a second-chance 3 to cut the margin down to six.

KU got as close as 30-27 on a layup by Bidunga and had a chance to do even more, but Griffen stepped out of bounds as he received a pass from Dickinson. On TCU’s next possession, though, Reynolds rounded a screen to hit a straight-on 3.

Bidunga committed his second foul with just under four minutes left in the half, but stayed in the game. The Jayhawks caught a break when Brendan Wenzel missed two free throws. Bidunga scored again to give himself 10 points and seven rebounds on the game, and with a minute and a half left in the half, Mayo drained a floater to tie the game at 33.

However, he made a bad pass that led to a go-ahead layup by Allette, who led all scorers with 11 points at the break.

Moore hit a 3-pointer early in the second half that gave KU its first lead since the score was 4-3, but the Jayhawks committed a series of turnovers that prevented them from doing much more. Zeke Mayo did connect again from deep, meaning the Jayhawks needed just five minutes to exceed their total number of made 3-pointers from the first half (one).

With 13 minutes to go, TCU’s Trazarien White tied up Dickinson as the center was going for an offensive rebound, and he and several other Frogs attempted to rip the ball away from Dickinson for a protracted period, effectively bringing him all the way up to the base of the TCU student section. The officials eventually assessed both Dickinson and White with technical fouls, but on the ensuing possession, White laid in a lob that put the Frogs back ahead 48-47.

Led by Storr and Moore, KU embarked on a 12-2 run, including a 3-pointer and fast-break dunk by Moore. The Frogs’ Noah Reynolds made it a six-point game with a 3 with just over five minutes to go before Moore connected once again, giving him three 3s in a half compared to two the rest of the season.

The Jayhawks will return home to host No. 7 Houston on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The Cougars stayed unbeaten in the Big 12 by dominating Utah 70-36 on Wednesday evening.