Jayhawks suffer second loss in a row at TCU

It’s hard to understate how horrible Kansas’ first half was Wednesday night at TCU in its 62-55 loss to the Horned Frogs.

A Jayhawk guard didn’t make a field goal the entire first half, and Kansas only made three shots the entire half. It’s not that TCU’s defense was smothering, as Kansas found a way to get open looks in the first half. Getting the ball in the basket was another story.

Kansas didn’t score until redshirt freshman forward Jamari Traylor made a short jumper with 12:42 left in the first half. Kansas didn’t score again until 6:06 remained in the half when senior center Jeff Withey made two free throws.

Withey also made Kansas’ second field goal. It didn’t come until 4:29 remained in the half.

So to recap, Kansas started the game with a 7:18 field goal drought then followed that up with an 8:13 field goal drought. Senior forward Kevin Young made Kansas’ final field goal, a layup, with 3:15 left in the half.

The Jayhawks made seven free throws in the first half, leaving them with 13 total points in the first half. Since the NCAA began tracking the stat in 1988-1989, it was Kansas’ fewest points ever in a half. The second-worse total was 18 points against Iowa State in 1999.

Kansas turned the ball over eight times in the first half. Although the Horned Frogs only scored seven points off of the turnovers, the Jayhawks couldn’t afford to waste that many possessions with their offense being so stagnant.

However, the Jayhawks still found themselves very much in the ballgame at halftime, because the Horned Frogs only mustered 22 points. TCU has struggled scoring all season and averages only 54.1 points per game.

If it were any other Big 12 team, the game could have been over by halftime. The Jayhawks benefitted from the Horned Frogs poor play, although it still didn’t match Kansas’ debacle.

TCU only made one jumper in the game’s first six minutes, leaving the door open for Kansas to take control of the game. But six of Kansas’ eight first half turnovers came in the game’s first seven minutes before Traylor got Kansas on the board.

The Jayhawks made their first three shots of the second half, equaling their first half output less than four minutes into the second half. While Kansas scored 42 points in the second half, the lack of first half production doomed them to their first consecutive losses in 264 games. The most recent occurrence was Jan. 14 and 16, 2006, when Kansas State and Missouri beat the Jayhawks.

TCU entered the game with an 0-8 Big 12 record in its first season in the conference. Of those eight conference losses, the closest one was a 62-53 loss to Texas Tech.

• Updated Feb. 7, 2013 at 12:26 am
• Edited by Megan Hinman