KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Kelly Oubre Jr. scored a career-high 25 points, Landen Lucas added 13 and ninth-ranked Kansas beat pesky TCU 64-59 on Thursday in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals.
Playing without leading scorer Perry Ellis due to a knee injury, the top-seeded Jayhawks (25-7) had to sweat out all 40 minutes against the No. 9 seed Horned Frogs. It wasn’t until Oubre got loose for a jam with a minute left that Kansas got some breathing room.
Trey Zeigler turned the ball over at the other end for TCU (18-15), and Kansas was able to run down the shot clock before Frank Mason III found Lucas for an alley-oop jam and a 63-57 lead with 30 seconds left. The Jayhawks were able to hold on the rest of the way.
Kansas advanced to play No. 16 Baylor in the semifinals Friday night. The fourth-seeded Bears pulled away late to beat No. 18 West Virginia 80-70 in an earlier quarterfinal.
Oubre finished 15 of 19 from the foul line. He also had six rebounds.