LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Vionise Pierre-Louis scored 20 points, Maddie Manning had 18 and No. 20 Oklahoma extended Kansas’ losing streak to 17 straight in a 72-66 victory on Saturday.

The Sooners have won 10 of their last 11 meetings between the two teams in Lawrence.

Pierre-Louis’ rebound and basket put Oklahoma up 63-55 with 3:11 to play but Kansas pulled to 66-64 at the 1:12 mark on Lauren Aldridge’s jumper. Gioya Carter answered with two free throws for a four-point lead and the Sooners got a stop at the other end.

T’ona Edwards was fouled and hit 1 of 2 from the stripe for a five-point advantage with 27 seconds left.

Peyton Little added 11 points for Oklahoma (18-8, 9-6 Big 12). Pierre-Louis was 8 of 9 from the field.

Aldridge led Kansas (5-21, 0-15) with 20 points and Timeka O’Neal made five 3-pointers for 15 points.

Kansas hit 11 of 27 3-pointers which was the most made by an Oklahoma opponent this season.

— Associated Press —

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Kansas forward Perry Ellis has been selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2015-16 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate basketball, the award announced Thursday.

To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be classified as NCAA Division I seniors and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of finalists follows this release.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their athletic platforms to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

The finalists were chosen by national media from the list of 30 men’s candidates announced in January. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to submit votes online at the Senior CLASS Award website through March 21. Fan votes will be combined with those of the media and Division I head coaches to determine the winners. The Senior CLASS Award recipients will be announced during the 2016 NCAA Men’s Final Four®.

Historically, Kansas’ Wayne Simien won the Senior CLASS Award in 2005. The award also recognizes five-member first and second teams. In 2002-03, Kansas’ Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich were first-team honorees. In 2011, Jayhawk Tyrel Reed was a first-team selection.

Ellis is a sport management major and business minor who will graduate from Kansas in May 2016. The 2014-15 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year started his college career with Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team honors in 2013. Ellis has graced the Athletic Director’s and Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll seven times and has continued his academic success by being named as an Academic All-Big 12 selection in both his sophomore and junior seasons (note: the 2016 Academic All-Big 12 Team has yet to be announced). The 2015 All-America Honorable Mention honoree’s work in the classroom is no surprise as he was valedictorian at Wichita Heights High School where he carried a 4.0 grade point average.

The 2015 Danny Manning “Mr. Jayhawk” Award recipient and All-Big 12 First Team performer exudes all the qualities and characteristics expected of leader. Ellis was selected as an Honorary Hero by the Real Men Real Heroes Organization for his extraordinary contributions to the community. He has spent countless hours visiting local schools and youth centers, such as the Boys and Girls Club, to mentor and offer encouragement to young kids. He spends time volunteering at the Wichita Children’s Home, where both of his parents work. A previous NABC Good Works Team nominee, Ellis also devotes one-on-one time with Special Olympics basketball player Tony Parker and is a regular visitor of cancer patients at Via Christi Saint Francis Hospital in Wichita.

Additionally, Ellis contributes to the community as a member of the Kansas men’s basketball team. Each year the Jayhawks host the Wilt Chamberlain Special Olympics Clinic during the heart of conference play. The team also gives approximately 450 women a taste of being a Jayhawk at the annual “Ladies Night Out” event in Allen Fieldhouse, an occasion that creates awareness for breast cancer and benefits Jayhawks for a Cure, the Lawrence Memorial Hospital (LMH) and the KU Cancer Center. Every year, the KU team participates in a holiday shopping trip to Walmart in order to provide items from a wish list for area families through the Salvation Army. Finally, Ellis and his teammates sign more than 1,500 basketballs annually with proceeds going to local charities.

Ellis will go down as one of the most decorated players in Kansas men’s basketball history. He is only the eighth player in KU lore to rank in the top 15 in both the career scoring and rebounding joining the likes of Manning, Lovellete, LaFrentz, Collison, Robisch, Randall and Simien.

This season Ellis is one of only two players in the Big 12 to rank in the top seven in both scoring and rebounding. In November, he earned all-tournament honors in leading Kansas to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational title. He is on numerous national awards top lists including the Naismith Trophy Midseason 30, the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 and the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year top 10.

One of five finalists for the 2015 Karl Malone Power Forward Award, Ellis was an All-Big 12 First Team honoree as a junior and third-team all-league selection as a sophomore. A four-time Big 12 Player of the Week honoree, in Nov. 2014, Ellis was named the CBSSports.com National Player of the Week after being named the Orlando Classic Most Valuable Player. Additionally, Ellis was a 2015 NABC Division I All-District 8 First Team selection and a Lute Olson All-America Team honoree his junior year.

In the summer of 2015 Ellis started all eight games for team USA at the 2015 World University Games in winning the gold medal. Following the competition he was named to the World University Games second team.

As a freshman Ellis was named to the 2013 Big 12 All-Tournament Team in leading Kansas to the tourney title. As a sophomore in 2013-14, he was named to the all-tournament team at the Battle 4 Atlantis in addition to later being named All-Big 12 Third Team.

Senior CLASS Award Finalist:
Ryan Arcidiacono, Villanova
Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia
Perry Ellis, KANSAS
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
Georges Niang, Iowa State
Marcus Paige, North Carolina
Justin Sears, Yale
Denzel Valentine, Michigan State
Fred VanVleet, Wichita State
Kyle Wiltjer, Gonzaga

— KU Athletics —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – TCU took advantage of Kansas’ second-half offensive struggles to run away with a 70-44 victory on Wednesday night inside Allen Fieldhouse.

A 15 percent shooting performance in the third quarter and a scoreless streak that spanned over 10 minutes of game time allowed TCU to extend its lead from six points to 19 by the end of the period. The Horned Frogs (14-11, 6-8 Big 12) shot 46.3 percent from the field on the night, and never looked back after the third-quarter breakout.

Freshman guard Aisia Robertson led the Jayhawks (5-20, 0-14 Big 12) in scoring for the first time this season, finishing the night with a career-high 11 points. The San Francisco, California native filled her stat line with two rebounds, two assists and three steals. Junior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen pulled down seven boards for the eighth time this season, and posted six points and one block. For the second-straight game, Kansas recorded double digit assists and steals.

TCU saw double-figure scoring performances from three different Horned Frogs. Sophomore guard AJ Alix led all scorers after netting 15 points. Alix shot 6-of-10 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Senior guard Zahna Medley connected on 6-of-12 attempts for 13 points and dished out three assists, while senior forward Veja Hamilton sank all four of her free throw attempts on the way to a 12-point game.

After the two teams traded baskets to start the game, a steal and fast-break layup from Kopatich gave Kansas an early 8-4 lead. TCU pulled in front for the first time after a steal by Alix led to a three-pointer at the other end at just under the two-minute mark of the opening quarter. The Horned Frogs held the lead for the remainder of the period, capped off by a buzzer-beating triple to push the advantage to 18-14.

A steal by Robertson led to another run-out basket for Kansas’ first points of the second quarter at the 6:21 mark. The cold start, caused by 0-of-3 shooting and four turnovers, allowed the visitors to build an eight-point lead.

The margin hovered around eight points for much of the quarter, until stretching to double digits for the first time on a three-point play from Hamilton with 2:12 left in the half. A TCU layup with 30 seconds would be the final bucket of the second quarter, giving the Horned Frogs the 35-23 lead at the break.

After missing the mark on all six three-point attempts in the first half, it took the Jayhawks just 19 seconds to hit a triple in the third quarter. Less than two minutes later, another long-range basket, this time from sophomore guard Lauren Aldridge, cut the deficit to six points. The Horned Frogs responded with a 13-0 run, shutting Kansas down for the final seven minutes and 55 seconds of the third quarter. The Jayhawks shot 0-of-16 during the stretch to find themselves trailing 50-31 heading into the final quarter of play.

TCU connected on first four shot attempts of the fourth quarter, while Kansas continued to struggle to find the bottom of the bet. Freshman guard Kylee Kopatich knocked down a free throw at the 7:22 mark to end the scoring drought, and drained a jumper 41 seconds later, concluding the 11-minute stretch without a field goal.

The Jayhawks closed the game out strong, scoring the final eight points and holding TCU scoreless over the last three minutes of play, but the turnaround came too late. At the final buzzer, TCU emerged with the win, 70-44.

— KU Athletics —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas was sluggish at the start of each half against Oklahoma State on Monday night.

The real story, though, was how they finished them.

The second-ranked Jayhawks seized control of the game with a 30-9 run into halftime, then used a 32-11 run to finish the game for a 94-67 victory over a Cowboys team that beat them by 19 just last month.

“I think we play better when we’re nervous about it,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “Tonight they kind of had an inner confidence, which is good, and thought that we’d be OK the whole game, which it ended up being. But I don’t think we had the intensity level that we need.”

Wayne Selden Jr. led the Jayhawks (22-4, 10-3 Big 12) with 18 points. Landen Lucas had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Perry Ellis shrugged off a slow start to score 15, and Frank Mason III finished with 14 points.

“Offensively, our perimeter was pretty good,” Self said. “Interior-wise, Landen played good and I think everyone else kind of pieced it together.”

Oklahoma State (12-14, 3-10) led much of the first half, fell behind by 18 early in the second, then trimmed their deficit to 62-56 with about 11 minutes to go. But that’s when the Jayhawks caught fire down the stretch, pulling away for a lopsided victory over Self’s alma mater.

“We came out sluggish — some games you’re not going to come out like you’re supposed to,” Selden said, “but it’s all about changing it. We were able to change it.”

Jeff Newberry scored 19 points and Jeffrey Carroll had 13 for the Cowboys, who again played without leading scorer Jawun Evans. The freshman has been sidelined since hurting his right shoulder Feb. 3.

“We didn’t end the first half very well, didn’t end the second half very well, and that doesn’t spell success for any team coming in here,” Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said.

The Jayhawks looked as if they were still reveling in Saturday’s road win over No. 3 Oklahoma in the early minutes Monday, struggling through turnovers and a jumble of poor shots to dig a deep hole.

Oklahoma State made it seem even bigger by sticking to Ford’s game plan of slowing the game. Whenever the Cowboys pulled down a rebound, he would stomp on the floor and remind his team to maintain the kind of plodding pace that equals the playing field against a more talented opponent.

Eventually, all that talent on the Kansas bench took over.

With the Cowboys leading 25-17, Selden drove along the baseline and rose up for a dunk between two defenders. The play instantaneously energized the crowd in Allen Fieldhouse, and when Anthony Allen’s turnover led to a runout and 3-pointer by Devonte Graham — off a nifty feed from freshman forward Carlton Bragg — the Cowboys were quick to burn a timeout.

It did little good as the Jayhawks pulled ahead a few minutes later on Selden’s 3-pointer, and then finished the half with Brannen Green’s buzzer-beating 3 for a 47-34 advantage.

“We came out strong, tried to give them the first punch, because we know at home they’re a very tough team,” said the Cowboys’ Tyree Griffin, “but we didn’t finish strong enough.”

The Jayhawks’ lead swelled to 18 points early in the second before Oklahoma State went on a run of its own, trimming its deficit to 61-54 at the under-12 timeout. But the Jayhawks answered with a coldly efficient 10-0 to regain control, and they waltzed the rest of the way to their sixth straight win.

“When I look at the makeup of their team, I don’t know there’s much missing,” Ford said. “They got great guards, great big men. They’ve got a great bench, experience. I don’t really know what they don’t have.”

HURTING POKES

Already hamstrung by several injuries, the Cowboys nearly lost Griffin to an ankle injury. The point guard said he knew there was nobody left on the bench, so “I felt like I had to go.” Griffin finished with two points, 12 assists and only three turnovers in 38 minutes.

TIP-INS

Oklahoma State: Tavarius Shine had 11 points. … The Cowboys were outrebounded 45-27 and outscored 17-3 on second-chance points. … Evans had 22 points in Oklahoma State’s win over Kansas.

Kansas: Greene finished with 11 points. Graham had 10. … The Jayhawks were 11 of 21 from beyond the arc. … Kansas has won 37 straight at Allen Fieldhouse.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma State plays Texas Tech on Saturday night.

Kansas visits Kansas State on Saturday night.

— Associated Press —

IRVING, Texas – Big wins over top 25 opponents helped Kansas guard Devonte’ Graham garner Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday. Graham is presented player accolade for the first time in his career.

Graham was a key in the Jayhawks’ 2-0 week as Kansas recorded victories over two top 10 opponents. The Raleigh, North Carolina guard’s best performance came at No. 3 Oklahoma as he scored a career-high 27 points on 8-of-13 (.615) shooting, including 6-of-9 (.667) from 3-point range. Graham had 16 points in the final eight minutes of the contest and also turned in a stellar performance on the other end of the court as the primary defender on OU standout Buddy Hield. Graham averaged 18.5 points and 3.5 rebounds for the week while converting 57.9 percent of his shots from the field, 61.5 percent from beyond the arc and 87.5 percent from the free throw line.

Graham is second Jayhawk to be named Big 12 Player of the Week in 2015-16. Wayne Selden Jr. was the co-player of the week Nov. 30 after earning co-MVP accolades at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

— KU Athletics —

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Kansas’ Devonte’ Graham stole the show from Buddy Hield.

Graham scored a career-high 27 points and did a tenacious job defending the nation’s No. 2 scorer to help the sixth-ranked Jayhawks defeat No. 3 Oklahoma 76-72 on Saturday.

“I just tried to make every shot tough on him,” Graham, a sophomore guard, said of defending Hield. “He still knocked down five trey balls. He still got his shots off. He had a good game. I just tried to lock up and play the best defense I could.”

It was only the third time in Graham’s career that he scored at least 20 points. He made 6 of 9 3-point attempts for the Jayhawks (21-4, 9-3 Big 12).

“All the stuff he did was big-time,” Kansas forward Landen Lucas said. “He was a man today. He carried the team. We all just tried to do our part, and he finished it for us.

Kansas won the first meeting 109-106 in triple overtime on Jan. 4, despite Hield’s 46 points. This time, Hield scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half, but he went without a field goal in the first half and made 5 of 15 field goals overall.

“I had good shots in the first half, and I wasn’t able to put them down,” Hield said. “They guarded me really well and threw a lot of bodies at me.”

Graham scored 17 points in the second half to help Kansas keep pace.

“He was great,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. “He made big plays when they needed them, especially when we had a little bit of a lead, and we couldn’t get a stop — he probably scored two or three of those. Good player. Talented guy. Stepped up there and made key buckets for them.”

Kansas notched its fifth straight win and snapped Oklahoma’s 19-game home winning streak. The Jayhawks were coming off a victory over No. 10 West Virginia on Tuesday.

Isaiah Cousins added 21 points for the Sooners (20-4, 8-4), who fell out of a tie for the conference lead. Oklahoma matched a season-low by shooting 33.3 percent from the field. The Sooners, who entered the game leading the nation in 3-point percentage, made just 10 of 32 from beyond the arc.

“That’s about as good as we can play defensively,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

Even with that, it almost got away from the Jayhawks.

Oklahoma trailed 73-71 and called a timeout with 32.1 seconds remaining. Hield made the first of two free throws with 25.3 seconds to go, and Kansas rebounded the miss.

Graham made two free throws with 19 seconds to play to put Kansas up three. Oklahoma’s Cousins shot a quick 3-point attempt that missed, and Kansas’ Jamari Traylor made the second of two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to put it out of reach.

Kansas ran out to a 20-6 lead as the Sooners made just two of their first 19 shots. Hield didn’t score until 9:04 remained in the first half.

Perry Ellis committed his second foul with 4:51 left in the first half and went to the bench with the Jayhawks leading 32-19. Oklahoma closed the half on a 14-6 run to make it 38-33.

The Sooners shot just 26.7 percent from the field in the first half and made 2 of 13 3-point attempts, but they made 15 of 18 free throws. Kansas shot 53.6 percent in the first half but committed eight turnovers.

Hield’s first field goal, a 3-pointer with 18:28 remaining, put the Sooners up 39-38. Consecutive 3-pointers by Hield put the Sooners ahead 52-48.

Kansas rallied to take a 59-57 lead on a 3-pointer by Wayne Selden Jr. with just over 7 minutes to play, and the game was close the rest of the way.

“Our guys kept working, kept clawing to get within reach, then made a good run there in the second half to get the lead,” Kruger said. “But with the lead, we couldn’t get a stop or two.”

QUOTABLE

Self, on the adjustment against Hield from the first meeting: “After playing Buddy the first time, when we held him to 46, I thought the best way was to play underneath him.”

STAT LINES

Ellis, who had scored at least 19 points in five of his past six games, was held to 10 points and did not score in the second half.

COURTSIDE

Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan attended the game.

TIP-INS

Kansas: The Jayhawks did not trail in either of their previous two games, wins over TCU and West Virginia. … Made just two free throws in the first half. … Frank Mason fouled out with 14 points.

Oklahoma: The Sooners beat Kansas 75-73 last year in Norman on Hield’s tip-in at the buzzer. … Hield, Cousins, Ryan Spangler and Jordan Woodard have started 92 consecutive games together.

UP NEXT

Kansas hosts Oklahoma State on Monday.

Oklahoma plays at Texas Tech on Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

LOS ANGELES – Kansas men’s basketball senior Perry Ellis has been named to the John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s Late Season Top 20 List, the Los Angeles Athletic Club announced Wednesday.

Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 20 student-athletes who are the frontrunners for the John R. Wooden Award, based on their performances during the 2015-16 season.

Ellis has scored 19 or more points in five of his last six games, including four 20-point efforts. The Wichita, Kansas senior forward is averaging 19.5 points and 6.6 rebounds during Big 12 play, and 16.9 points and 6.5 rebounds overall. Ellis is the only player in the Big 12 to rank in the top-seven in scoring (third) and rebounding (seventh). He has three double-doubles on the season with all coming in conference action. The 2015 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, who was an All-Big 12 First Team selection as a junior, also ranks among the Big 12 leaders in field goal percentage (fifth at 53.0) and free throw percentage (14th at 76.1).

The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2016 John R. Wooden Award. The leading candidates will be further pared to 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA will be submitted to the voters on the ballot prior to the NCAA Tournament. Every year, players have made the ballots that are not on the preseason or midseason lists. Voters are permitted to take into consideration the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament when casting the ballot. The 10-man Wooden Award All-American Team will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament.

The 40th annual presentation of the John R. Wooden Award will be the anchor presentation of the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy’s. The men’s and women’s Wooden All-American Teams will be honored during the ceremony, as well as the 2016 Legends of Coaching Award, which will be presented to Tubby Smith, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Texas Tech. The event will take place the weekend of April 7-9, 2016.

No. 3/3 Kansas (20-4, 8-3) will travel to No. 3/3 Oklahoma (20-3, 8-3) on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN. For the second time this season KU will be part of ESPN College GameDay which will originate from Norman, Oklahoma, Feb. 13.

— KU Athletics —

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Landen Lucas rarely gets much credit for the work he does for Kansas, mainly because the blue-collar forward earns his minutes with rebounding and defense rather than offense.

So when Perry Ellis had the ball with a clear path to the rim Tuesday night, he decided to reward his teammate. With a deft flip of his wrist, Ellis lobbed up a pass that Lucas dutifully flushed.

“He was open,” Ellis said with a shrug, “so I had to get him some.”

Lucas had certainly earned it. He pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds, scored nine points and even had four blocks in the sixth-ranked Jayhawks’ 75-65 victory over No. 10 West Virginia.

“I see him out there working hard,” Ellis said. “You got to reward your teammate.”

Besides, Ellis still scored a game-high 21 points. Frank Mason III added 14 for the Jayhawks (20-4, 8-3), who handled the Mountaineers’ pressure well most of the night in avenging their lopsided loss lost month in Morgantown, West Virginia, that had them playing catch-up in the league race.

Now, they are tied with the Mountaineers (19-5, 8-3) and No. 3 Oklahoma (20-3, 8-3) as they pursue their 12th consecutive Big 12 championship. All three teams have seven games remaining, with the Jayhawks and Sooners to meet on Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma.

“We knew we weren’t too far out of it,” Lucas said. “We handled business, but now we have a big one Saturday. We’re just going to get mentally prepared to go down there and win.”

Devin Williams had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Jaysean Paige also scored 14 points for the Mountaineers — though their leading scorer was just 5-of-16 from the field.

“You just can’t miss that many shots,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “You can’t miss that many transition opportunities. We had all kinds of transition opportunities and we didn’t convert one.”

Unlike their meeting in Morgantown, the Jayhawks were the ones who dominated the first half Tuesday night. They committed six turnovers — they had 22 total in the first game — and shut down West Virginia at the other end, which prevented the Mountaineers from getting into their pressure defense.

“It wasn’t all them,” Huggins said. “You have to give us credit, too, for screwing the game up.”

Quickly outletting the ball after every defensive rebound, the Jayhawks rushed up court before the Mountaineers could retreat, often with Mason and Devonte’ Graham taking it all the way to the rim.

Kansas built a 36-24 lead late in the first half, but Tarik Phillip threw in a prayer off his own miss and Paige curled in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to slice into the Mountaineers’ deficit.

The Jayhawks used a 13-2 run early in the second half to take a 53-40 lead, their biggest of the game. But the Mountaineers finally got some traction with their press, forcing turnovers on four straight possessions, and slowly trimmed the lead to 54-50 with about 8 minutes left in the game.

The decisive point may have come moments later, when Phillip was fouled while driving to the basket. He whipped an elbow that clipped Mason in the chin and was assessed a flagrant foul. So after Phillip air-balled his free throw, Mason made one at the other end to start another Kansas run.

Ellis finished it off with a 3-pointer that made it 70-58 with 3:21 to go.

Despite a few sloppy moments down the stretch, the Jayhawks were able to coax the final minutes off the clock to remain perfect against West Virginia in four games at Allen Fieldhouse.

“I thought we got punked in Morgantown,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “What I take away from this is we played more like men than we did when we went to Morgantown.”

HOLTON STILL OUT

Mountaineers forward Jonathan Holton remained out after violating team rules. Huggins has not said when he’ll return from his suspension, which has now cost him four games.

TIP-INS

West Virginia: Daxter Miles Jr. was held to two points on 1-for-8 shooting. … Huggins coached his 300th game at his alma mater. … The Mountaineers committed only 10 turnovers.

Kansas: Wayne Selden had 11 points. Graham and Brannen Greene scored 10 apiece. … Self improved to 203-9 in Allen Fieldhouse. … The Jayhawks shot 56 percent from the field.

UP NEXT

West Virginia plays TCU on Saturday.

Kansas visits No. 3 Oklahoma on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Devonte Graham dived to the floor for a loose ball in a wild sequence that led to a three-point play for Perry Ellis, putting No. 7 Kansas up by 20 points in the first half.

“The thing that he forgot to mention, if he hadn’t lost the ball, he wouldn’t have had to dive for it,” coach Bill Self said with a smile after Graham gave his description of the play.

Still, Self was much happier after the 75-56 victory over TCU on Saturday than he was three days earlier — after an 18-point win over Kansas State he said his team was outplayed and soft.

“Just trying to have energy like coach has been preaching to us,” said Graham, the point guard who had 15 points, three assists, two steals and officially no turnovers.

Ellis had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Jayhawks (19-4, 7-3 Big 12), who had lost their previous three conference road games but never trailed after scoring the game’s first seven points. They shot 50 percent from the field (29 of 58) and finished with a 46-25 rebounding advantage.

“We rebounded the ball more like men,” Self said.

“They were right, and we had no fight,” TCU coach Trent Johnson said. “They did whatever they wanted to — 46-25 on the glass speaks volumes of how competitive they were and how competitive we weren’t … The game was decided because of their maximum effort and our lack of.”

Brandon Parrish and JD Miller had 13 points each for TCU (10-13, 1-9), which shot only 29 percent. Chauncey Collins had 10 points.

Frank Mason III added 12 points for the Jayhawks, who won for the 12th time in 13 games against TCU, which exactly three years earlier had its only win in the series. But Kansas got off to the quick start in a road arena about half-filled with its own fans.

Ellis’ three-point play after that chaotic scramble with Graham made it 34-14, giving the Jayhawks their first 20-point lead. His tip-in with 2:31 left made it 38-14 before TCU scored the last six points of the first half.

Kansas also had its first double-digit lead after consecutive baskets by Ellis, who was 11-of-14 shooting. He was on the receiving end of an alley-oop pass from Wayne Selden Jr. for a dunk and then had a strong layup to make it 21-11.

“They’re a great team. There’s a reason they’ve dominated the league for so long,” Parrish said. “Ellis was really dominating in the paint. It felt like we almost couldn’t stop him today. He drove them today.”

MISSING FROM 3

While the Jayhawks shot 50 percent overall for the third time in four games, they shot only 27 percent on 3-pointers (6 of 22) — making up for that by making 23 of 36 shots (64 percent inside the arc). The only time they were worst from long range was at 20 percent (3 of 15) in a loss to Michigan State the second game of the season.

TIP-INS

Kansas: It was Ellis’ third double-double this season, all in Big 12 games, and 15th of his career. … The Jayhawks have won by at least 10 points in 13 of their 19 wins. …. Kansas played the first of four times on the road in a six-game span.

TCU: When the Frogs upset Kansas 62-55 in 2013, it was their first Big 12 win — coming in their first season after joining the conference. TCU is now 7-57 in Big 12 games. … TCU had as many turnovers (six) as field goals in the first half.

UP NEXT

Kansas: Hosts No. 14 West Virginia on Tuesday night.

TCU: Hosts Oklahoma State on Monday night.

ONE SHORT SPURT

After Kansas’ 7-0 start in the game’s first two minutes, the closest TCU got was 10-7. That was after Parrish made a long jumper, then followed a Jayhawks turnover with a nifty spin move for a layup off the glass 37 seconds later.

— Associated Press —