Moments That Popped: KU 78, TCU 73, Big 12 tourney quarterfinals

Kansas City, Missouri — It's the Big 12, so you knew it was going to be difficult. Especially on a day when all eight teams playing in the conference tournament quarterfinals are headed to the NCAA Tournament.

In the end, though, 3rd-seeded Kansas held off a hell of a physical challenge from No. 6 seed TCU, 78-73, to advance to Friday's semifinal showdown with No. 2 seed Houston.

The Big 12 semifinals feature Arizona and Iowa State in the early game and KU-Houston in the late game. That very well could be better than this year's Final Four. Heck, that could be this year's Final Four.

Quick note about Friday and Saturday's semis and championship game: The Big 12 Conference announced after Thursday's KU victory that they are scrapping the glass LED video court and installing hardwood for the final three games of the tourney.

It wasn't all pretty. In fact, there were parts that were downright ugly. But when the Jayhawks had their backs against the wall the most, they answered with a strong close to the second half.

KU used a 10-1 run to turn a 47-41 deficit into a 51-48 lead midway through the 2nd half. Flory Bidunga (13 points & 10 rebounds in 27 minutes) did a lot of the work on offense, but the run was born from KU turning things up a notch on defense, where Kansas forced 14 TCU turnovers and held the Frogs to 39% shooting.

Bidunga was a +31 in the game, by far the biggest number by any player on either team. But he finished with four fouls and played through at least some foul trouble

"When he came out, we just weren't as good," Self said. "Bottom line."

In a back-and-forth stretch for the next few minutes, KU went down again, but finally got the game square at 59 all with 6:40 to play and then tied it again on a pair of free throws by Darryn Peterson.

After a tough defensive possession on TCU's next trip, KU got the stop and, for the first time in a long time, Melvin Council Jr. was able to push the ball in transition. Racing up the floor, he found Tre White in the deep corner and White did the rest, burying a 3-pointer for the loudest crowd pop of the night and a 64-61 KU lead. Timeout TCU.

The Frogs never fully went away, but Darryn Peterson never really cared. He led Kansas with 24 points, including 13-of-16 on free throws. He also added 8 rebounds in the win, playing with the ball in his hands and against tons of TCU pressure all night.

KU closed out the game with a 19-6 run that provided just enough separation for Kansas to advance.

After the win, KU coach Bill Self said simply that the win was a little ugly.

"It was a hard game," Self said. "I don't think we played our best by any stretch, but we were pretty good early."

Next up, KU (23-9) will take on 2nd-seeded Houston in the semifinals at 8:30 p.m. Friday.

Here's a look back at some Thursday night's action from T-Mobile Center in KCMO.

LIKES

• DP's different gear - Raise your hand if DP's sneaky steal late in the game reminded you of the Michael Jordan steal from Karl Malone's blind side years ago in the NBA Finals? Just me? Fine. But it was still an awesome play, nonetheless, even if Peterson did not finish the dunk on the breakaway that followed. That one play, though, more than any other, was an indication of just how Peterson played in this one. In a word: Attack-mode. He was ultra-aggressive all night and looked like he believed he could get any shot he wanted against anyone guarding him from anywhere on the floor. Maybe that's another sign that he's coming into his full self as the season winds down. Maybe it's just what postseason basketball does to the guy. Either way, it was great to see. Almost as great as the fire and reactions he had after a couple of buckets and/or fouls.

• Defense early - You've heard Self talk about it for years and you've heard him all but beg this team to do it. Early on, they did. It wasn't that the Jayhawks were playing great, although things did look good early. It was more that Kansas was making the Horned Frogs play bad. A Bill Self favorite. TCU took back shots, threw hte ball away and gave up easy looks to Kansas. It didn't last. In fact, it went the complete opposite way for a bit. But that start is what Self and the Jayhawks are hoping to see a lot of this month.

• Aggressive Tiller shows up to start - It wasn't the scene all night, but KU freshman Bryson Tiller looked awfully aggressive in the opening minutes of this one and then again in the opening minute or so of the 2nd half. He looked to both shoot and attack off the dribble and got on the offensive glass for his first bucket of the night. Tiller was so aggressive against TCU at times that he actually missed two 2-handed dunk attempts. On one, he was fouled and went to the free throw line. On the other, play continued and he looked frustrated by his inability to put the ball down. As has been the case most of the season so far, Tiller is a big key for Kansas the rest of the way because they need him to play big, use his size and add a physical presence beyond Flory Bidunga on both ends of the floor. He finished Thursday night with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting to go along with 8 rebounds in 24 minutes.

• Free throw edge - KU got to the free throw line 37 times on Thursday night — nearly 20 more than TCU, which shot just 18 free throws against Kansas — with Peterson getting there 16 times on his own and drawing 11 fouls in the win. "The thing we did best, obviously, was get fouled and shoot free throws," Self said. "So that was great to see."

DISLIKES

• Council quiet - He was the only player who played all 40 minutes in the game, and he was frustrated in the postgame locker room about the impact he made in those 40 minutes. He gave the team, as a whole, a C- for its latest performance and said so much of that started with him. His energy, or lack thereof. His inability to pick up full-court and play the kind of difference-making defense that he likes to play. And, of course, him missing a few floaters early, which he said got in his head a little bit and threw him off of his game offensively for most of the night. Council finished just 3-of-12 for the night but did add 5 rebounds and 5 assists to just 2 turnovers without a break. Even with the off night by his standards, Council showed on a couple of occasions that his speed can still be the key for the Jayhawks and a back breaker for KU's opponents.

• KU goes ice cold - KU could not have started this one much better, leading 9-0 at the 14:42 mark of the first half. From there, though, the Frogs found their footing and their shots, and KU went cold. The Jayhawks scored just 4 more points in the next 6:41 of game action, allowing TCU to not only get back into the game but take a pretty sizable lead.

• Too much 1-on-1 - Tre White was especially guilty of this, but so, too, was Peterson and, at times, Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell. With Peterson, you understand and even expect some of it. That doesn't always mean it's good, though. With the rest, it was very clear that Kansas was so much better when they played connected and moved the ball to get open looks and driving lanes. Playing through Flory Bidunga also proved beneficial, but because there were moments of 1-on-everyone, they weren't always able to go to Bidunga.

WHAT THE?

• It takes 2 to tangle? - There was a super-weird situation late in the first half of this 0ne, which featured TCU coach Jamie Dixon and KU freshman Darryn Peterson getting tangled up along the sideline. The moment came after Peterson hit a 3-pointer in front of the TCU bench and then celebrated with a gaze in the direction of the bench. Because of the score and momentum factor, Dixon immediately called timeout and play was stopped. As DP was running back down the court, though, Dixon came onto the court and half wrapped an arm around Peterson was he was running back to the KU bench. It was quick and didn't create much controversy or drama. But Peterson did throw his arms up like, "What the heck?" before jogging back to the KU bench for the timeout. It's possible it was incidental or even accidental. But it was weird all the same. Self and Peterson were both asked about the mix-up after the game. "I thought he grabbed me," Peterson said. "He told me he didn't mean to do it, so..." Added Self: "I told him (Peterson) it was unintentional. He just happened to be running by when Jamie stepped out there. There was nothing to it."