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Kansas whips TCU behind career-best effort from Ellis

Feb 16, 2014 - 12:46 AM Lawrence, KS (SportsNetwork.com) - Perry Ellis scored a career-high 32 points as seventh-ranked Kansas rolled to a 95-65 victory over TCU in a Big 12 clash from Allen Fieldhouse.

Ellis connected on 13-of-15 field goal attempts and all four of his free throw tries to offset the absence of center Joel Embiid, who was held out due to a knee sprain and a sore back. The freshman center's loss wasn't felt at all on the offensive end, as Kansas (19-6, 10-2 Big 12) shot a scorching 61.5 percent from the floor and overcame a hot start by the Horned Frogs to win going away.

Andrew Wiggins chipped in 17 points on a 7-of-11 success rate and Wayne Selden added 15 points to the rout.

TCU (9-15, 0-13) was dealt a 12th consecutive defeat despite a 25-point effort from Kyan Anderson. Amric Fields was the only other Horned Frog in double figures, finishing with 12 points.

This matchup between the Big 12's first and last place teams was expected to be no contest, though the underdog Horned Frogs made things very interesting early on by coming out on fire from the opening tip. TCU made good on eight of its first 11 shots to build a 22-16 lead a little over eight minutes in, with Anderson dropping in seven points and Fields adding five over that stretch.

Kansas tightened up its defense midway through the first half, however, and regained control via an 15-3 run that Selden capped with back-to-back baskets, the last staking the Jayhawks to a 34-28 advantage with five minutes left in the frame.

"We just didn't guard Anderson at all in the first half and after we got in a little rhythm defensively we were much better," said Kansas head coach Bill Self.

Anderson, who poured in 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting prior to the break, kept TCU within striking distance heading into the second half. The junior guard knocked down a 3-pointer and drove the lane for a layup to cut the margin to 44-40 with 50 seconds remaining in the stanza, though Kansas took a seven- point edge into intermission after Wiggins buried a triple in the closing stages.

The second half was all Kansas, which outscored the Horned Frogs by a whopping 23-5 margin over the first eight-plus minutes to put the game out of reach.

Ellis put up six points and Wiggins and Tarik Black each threw down highlight- reel alley-oop dunks as the Jayhawks went on a 13-1 tear out of the locker room to open up a commanding 60-41 lead. A Fields trey briefly halted the momentum, but Kansas scored 10 of the next 11 points to go up 70-45 with 11:58 to play.

"All it was, was energy," said Self of the Jayhawks' second-half dominance. "I thought defensively we had steals that led to baskets. There were a lot of things that happened pretty good defensively the second half."

TCU shot just 33.3 percent (6-of-18) and committed nine turnovers over the final 20 minutes, with Anderson limited to just four points after halftime.

"Kyan started very strong, but like everyone else on our team, got worn down physically," said TCU head coach Trent Johnson. "We are not has deep or talented as [Kansas], and that's a challenge. We've got to pick our poison when dealing with them."

Game Notes

Ellis shattered his previous career high of 24 points, set in the Jayhawks' win over Duke in Chicago on Nov. 12 ... TCU's losing streak is the program's longest since a 13-game skid from Jan. 15-Mar. 2, 2011 ... The Horned Frogs have now lost 11 straight against Top 25 teams since topping the Jayhawks in Fort Worth in February of last season ... Anderson has averaged 27 points over TCU's last three outings ... Kansas outscored the Horned Frogs by a 56-18 margin in points in the paint.