No. 5 Oregon will be without a major piece of its offense on Friday night in the Peach Bowl against No. 1 Indiana.
Freshman RB Jordon Davison is listed as out on the Ducks’ Tuesday night injury report. According to the Oregonian, Davison suffered a fractured clavicle in the Ducks’ Orange Bowl win over Texas Tech. Davison rushed 15 times for 42 yards and two scores in the 23-0 victory as Oregon dominated the No. 4 Red Raiders.
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Given the type of injury, it’s hard to see how Davison would be available if Oregon beats Indiana and advances to the Jan. 19 national championship game.
Davison is the team’s second-leading rusher with 113 carries for 667 yards. Only Noah Whittington (829 yards) has rushed for more yardage, but no one comes close to Davison’s touchdown total. Davison leads the team with 15 rushing touchdowns. No other Oregon player has more than six.
Davison had the most carries and yards of any Oregon running back against Tech. Whittington rushed 13 times for 31 yards and Dierre Hill Jr. had five carries for 13 yards. He’s not the only running back who Oregon won’t have against Indiana, either. Jayden Limar is entering the transfer portal. Limar, who has rushed 46 times for 262 yards and three TDs, had three carries against the Red Raiders.
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Limar had returned for the College Football Playoff after missing most of October and all of November.
Oregon’s offense has dealt with injuries for much of the season. Leading returning receiver Evan Stewart suffered a knee injury in spring practice and top WR Dakorien Moore returned for the postseason along with Gary Bryant Jr. Moore had three catches in the Orange Bowl while Bryant had one grab.
Cameron Boozer and the Blue Devils didn’t make it easy on Tuesday night, but they are headed home still perfect in ACC play.
No. 6 Duke rallied out of a 12-point deficit in the first half, the team’s largest of the season so far, to beat No. 20 Louisville 84-73 on Tuesday at the KFC Yum! Center. That got the Blue Devils to 14-1 and maintained their early lead in the conference standings.
Boozer was incredibly efficient to lead the Blue Devils to the win, too. He dropped 27 points and shot 10-of-12 from the field, which matched his season-high field goal percentage, while adding eight rebounds and four assists. He missed just a single 3-point attempt and a short bucket from the center in the lane the entire game. It marked the fourth time in the last five games in which Boozer has scored at least 23 points.
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Louisville led the whole way in the first half, and even jumped out to a 12-point lead at one point early on. That was Duke’s largest deficit of the season so far, two points more than what they faced against Lipscomb last month before rallying for that win. The Blue Devils led nearly the entire way in their loss to Texas Tech before slipping at the end in a one-point defeat — their only loss of the year.
The Cardinals took a nine-point lead into the break on Tuesday night thanks to 16 first-half points from Ryan Conwell and 10 made 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes as a group. It was Boozer who kept Duke in it early. He missed just one shot in the first half and matched the six made field goals that the rest of the Blue Devils made from the field combined.
But Duke finally took off after halftime. The Blue Devils opened the period on a long 14-6 run to get within a single point, and then finally took their first lead of the night after a pair of Boozer free throws.
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Louisville largely shut down after that, and couldn’t make a bucket from behind the arc. Louisville made just one of its first 14 attempts from deep in the second half, which allowed Duke to finally surge ahead for good. The Blue Devils just held on down the stretch, their double-digit deficit long behind them. In total, the Blue Devils outscored the Cardinals by 20 points in the second half.
Isaiah Evans finished with 23 points to go with Boozer’s night for Duke in the win. Caleb Foster finished with 20 points after he went 9-of-13 from the field. The Blue Devils shot 51% from the field despite making just seven 3-pointers as a group. Duke entered the game after narrow wins against both Georgia Tech and Florida State to open conference play. That came after its loss to the Red Raiders, too.
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Conwell led Louisville with 24 points and seven rebounds. Aly Khalifa added 14 points off the bench, and Adrian Wooley finished with 11 points. The Cardinals were without star guard Mikel Brown Jr. He has now missed five straight games with a lower back injury, and was ruled out of the contest ahead of time. Brown has averaged 16.6 points and 5.1 assists in 10 games this season. The Cardinals now sit at 11-4, and just 1-2 in conference play after last week’s loss to Stanford.
While they may have gotten out to another slow start, the Blue Devils who showed up in the second half on Tuesday night easily erased any doubts about their status as one of the top teams in the country.
Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt will be spending the next five days in jail.
Taylor-Britt was sentenced to five days of jail time over a driving incident in September, an Ohio judge ruled on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Ben Baby. Taylor-Britt was charged with reckless driving, which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail, a $250 fine or both, and driving without a license. The judge in the case declined to grant Taylor-Britt community service, and insisted that his jail time be served immediately.
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“That’s a gift,” Hamilton County judge Bernie Bouchard told Taylor-Britt, via ESPN. “Five days instead of 30. He’s got to do them now. It’ll be over soon enough.”
The issue stemmed from a driving incident when Taylor-Britt allegedly did a burnout on the wrong side of the road near Paycor Stadium. Court records indicated, according to ESPN, that it took place on Sept. 14, shortly after the team’s 31-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2 of the season. But county attorneys testified that the incident actually occurred in June. Further specifics are not yet known.
Taylor-Britt’s attorneys said that he hasn’t driven since October, and that he’s selling the vehicle involved in the incident. He was at a Kentucky transportation office on Tuesday to receive his new license, too.
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“I just want to apologize, first and foremost for my actions that I’ve put everybody else through,” Taylor-Britt said. “Not intentional in [any] way.”
The hearing on Tuesday actually started without Taylor-Britt, who was available on standby while the plea deal was being finalized. The judge then instructed Taylor-Britt to show up before noon under the likelihood of serving jail time.
Taylor-Britt ended the season on injured reserve after he went down in the team’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 16. The 26-year-old underwent Lisfranc surgery on his left foot, and is still recovering.
Taylor-Britt had 21 total tackles in eight games this season, his fourth in the league after the Bengals selected him with the No. 60 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Nebraska. He is set to become a free agent this summer after his initial rookie deal expires.
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The Bengals went just 6-11 this season and missed the playoffs for a third straight campaign.
“I’m not opposed to it,” Taylor-Britt said Monday about possibly playing elsewhere next season. “At the end of the day, I don’t think anybody would be mad at a new change of scenery.”
Aidan Chiles is heading from one Big Ten school to another.
The former Michigan State quarterback has committed to play at Northwestern in 2026, according to ESPN. Chiles entered the transfer portal after the 2025 season following Jonathan Smith’s firing at Michigan State. Chiles followed Smith to Michigan State from Oregon State after the 2023 season following his freshman season with the Beavers.
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Over nine games in 2025, Chiles was 128-of-203 passing for 1,392 yards and 10 touchdowns. He split time at quarterback with Alessio Milivojevic — the redshirt freshman also appeared in nine games and threw 173 passes.
In 2024, Chiles was 192-of-323 passing for 2,415 yards and 13 TDs with 11 interceptions across 12 games. Smith was fired after just two seasons as the Spartans went 9-15. Coincidentally, Michigan State hired former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald to replace Smith.
Chiles will join Northwestern as coach David Braun attempts to rejuvenate the offense. Braun hired former Oregon and UCLA head coach Chip Kelly to be the team’s offensive coordinator in December. Kelly left Ohio State for the Las Vegas Raiders after the 2024 season but was fired before the end of the NFL season.
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Northwestern went 7-6 in 2025 and won the GameAbove Sports Bowl over Central Michigan. However, the Wildcats averaged just 5.4 yards per play and ranked 98th in the country with just 23.4 points per game.
There are things Victor Wembanyama can do that no one else in the NBA can do. Or maybe anyone else on Earth.
The San Antonio Spurs star made his return to the court on Tuesday after missing two games with a hyperextended left knee. As a precaution, he came off the bench and was reportedly on a minutes limit.
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However, any concerns that the Frenchman’s leg wasn’t 100% probably evaporated after the first quarter, when FanDuel Sports Network aired video showing Wembanyama kick a bunch of basketballs stuck in the net.
We will repeat: Victor Wembanyama kicked a bunch of basketballs stuck in a net. A basketball net. With his foot. Nearly 10 feet in the air. Think about how close you can reach a basketball rim with your hand, and then watch this:
Granted, Wembanyama did the kicking with his right leg, but that’s something you just don’t do unless you have 100% confidence in your entire lower body.
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Wembanyama is officially listed at 7-foot-4, the tallest player in the NBA, and there’s plenty of speculationthat he’s actually multiple inches taller than that. What’s more, he possesses an athleticism that is almost unheard of at his size, which helps explain how he can get his foot 12 inches above where his head usually is.
Here’s some perspective. The Guinness Book of World Records is hardly a comprehensive documentation of what every human has done, but it lists the highest unassisted martial arts kick (male) at 2.94 meters, or 9 feet, 8 inches. Watch that video again and judge for yourself if Wembanyama’s foot gets within four inches of the rim, then take a moment and ponder that he was only goofing off.
It’s a preposterous thing to be able to do, accomplished by a preposterous athlete. And in the actual Spurs game, he came off the bench and posted 30 points on 10-of-20 shooting, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in 21 minutes of a 106-105 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
There might not be a human better built to dominate a basketball game than Wembanyama. And that doesn’t even factor in the kicking.
Former University of Texas wide receiver Jordan Shipley is in critical condition at an Austin hospital after suffering severe burns in a fire at his ranch.
“Jordan was involved in an accident this afternoon near his hometown of Burnet,” a statement from his family said Tuesday night. “The machine he was operating on his ranch caught fire, and although he managed to get out, it was not before sustaining severe burns on his body in the process. He was able to get one of his workers on the ranch who drove him to a local hospital. He was then care-flighted to Austin, where he remains in critical but stable condition.”
Shipley, 40, was an All-American as a senior in 2009 when he had 116 catches for 1,485 yards and 13 touchdowns as the Longhorns went to the national title game against Alabama. Shipley is one of the most successful wide receivers in Texas history, and that season put him atop the Longhorn record books for the most career and single-season receptions and the most receiving yards in a single season.
Only Roy Williams (3,866) has more career receiving yards and touchdowns (36) than Shipley’s 3,191 yards and 33 TDs, and Shipley also set the single-game records for receptions (15 in 2008) and receiving yards (273 in 2009). Shipley’s 13 touchdowns in 2009 are also the most of any Texas receiver in one season.
After four seasons at Texas, Shipley was drafted in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. He was taken with the 84th pick in the draft and went one pick ahead of his Texas teammate and Heisman runner-up Colt McCoy. The former Texas QB finished second to Sam Bradford in the Heisman voting in 2008 before finishing third in 2009.
Shipley played just three seasons in the NFL and appeared in 24 games. He had 78 career catches for 858 yards and four touchdowns. The majority of those stats came in his rookie season, as he had 52 catches for 600 yards and three scores in 2010.
As Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop sailed a potential game-winning 44-yard field goal wide right Sunday night, pandemonium erupted in Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium.
The missed field-goal attempt that decided the AFC North title also set off a chain reaction that could affect the NFL landscape for years to come.
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The Steelers won the division, not the Ravens. And now, two days later, John Harbaugh is searching for a new job.
The Ravens moved on from Harbaugh Tuesday, marking the end to his 18-season run at the helm in Baltimore, where he led the Ravens to a 180-113 record, complete with a Super Bowl XLVII victory in the 2012 season, 12 playoff appearances and six AFC North championships.
Harbaugh, 63, is already commanding serious attention on the market. He’ll have a fresh start somewhere else soon if he wants it, but it’s also worth looking back at his nearly two decades in Baltimore.
A special start for the former special teams coach (2008-12)
Harbaugh cut his teeth as an emerging coach in the third phase of the game. Before his nine-season tenure as the Philadelphia Eagles’ special teams coordinator from 1998-2006, he coached special teams at Morehead State, Cincinnati and Indiana.
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Head-coaching jobs in the NFL are often reserved for offensive and defensive coordinators, but Baltimore owner Steve Bisciotti made the outside-the-box hire in 2008 to replace Brian Billick.
Harbaugh was brought in to jolt the Ravens’ culture, and he did just that while immediately returning Baltimore to NFL prominence.
The Ravens made the AFC championship four times under Harbaugh, including three times in his first five seasons as head coach.
That stretch nearly showcased a storybook trip to the Super Bowl in his first season steering the ship. With rookie Joe Flacco at quarterback, the upstart Ravens reached the conference title game before falling to Mike Tomlin’s Steelers 23-14. Flacco threw three interceptions in that game, most notably a pick-6 by safety Troy Polamalu.
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Four seasons later, Flacco posted a perfect 11:0 touchdown-to-interception ratio when he piloted the Ravens on a Super Bowl run that culminated with a triumph over the San Francisco 49ers, who were coached by John Harbaugh’s younger brother Jim at the time.
In the process, Flacco tied Joe Montana’s NFL record for most touchdown passes without throwing an interception in a single postseason. And Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis went out on top, finishing his Pro Football Hall of Fame career with his second ring upon returning from a torn right triceps injury.
A memorable 2012 season that ended in rings for the Ravens also marked the end of linebacker Ray Lewis’ illustrious career. (Photo by Robert Beck /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
(Robert Beck via Getty Images)
Harbaugh benches Flacco for Lamar Jackson (2013-2018)
After that Super Bowl campaign, the Ravens produced only two winning seasons from 2013-17, and they made the playoffs just once in that five-year span.
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By 2018, the debate over whether Flacco was elite had cobwebs hanging over the then-record-breaking, six-year, $120.6 million deal he signed after he won Super Bowl MVP. He still hadn’t made a Pro Bowl, and a midseason injury provided an opening for the Ravens’ new rookie quarterback, 2016 Heisman winner Lamar Jackson.
Jackson, whom Baltimore traded up to pick out of Louisville at the end of the first round of the 2018 draft, starred in Flacco’s place at just 21 years old.
When Flacco healed up, Harbaugh stuck with Jackson, who went 6-1 in his first seven regular-season starts while piling up 556 rushing yards. When Jackson struggled in a wild-card playoff loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that season, Harbaugh didn’t listen to fans calling for Flacco.
It was a watershed moment in franchise history. Harbaugh handed the baton to Jackson, and the dual-threat superstar ran with it.
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Regular-season heights, agonizing playoff heartbreak (2019-2025)
Jackson quickly affirmed Harbaugh’s decision by winning the first of his two NFL MVP awards in 2019.
That season, he threw for 36 touchdowns and rushed for 1,206 yards — the most yards a quarterback has ever recorded on the ground in a single season — plus the Ravens went 14-2.
Except when Baltimore face-planted against the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round of the playoffs, questions soon surfaced about Jackson’s playoff deficiencies.
He’s facing some of those same questions now, eight seasons into his career.
Jackson, who also earned league MVP honors in 2023 and contended in 2024, is a mere 3-5 in playoff games. He’s thrown only three more touchdowns (10) than interceptions (seven) in those outings.
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It’s not all on him, of course.
The Ravens made the AFC championship during the 2023 season after a 13-4 season, but wide receiver Zay Flowers fumbled just before the goal line, costing Baltimore a fourth-quarter touchdown in a 17-10 loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Last season, veteran tight end Mark Andrews lost a fumble and then dropped a pass on a two-point conversion attempt in a two-point defeat to the Buffalo Bills during the AFC divisional round.
During Harbaugh’s and Jackson’s eight seasons together, the Ravens made the playoffs six times, won four division titles and earned a pair of No. 1 seeds in the AFC.
With Jackson’s dynamism at quarterback and a defense that ranked top 10 in fewest points per game allowed in all but two of those go-arounds, it’s hard to ignore those missed opportunities.
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The 2025 season was a particularly trying one for a Baltimore team that entered with Super Bowl aspirations and then spiraled into a 1-5 start. Injuries played a role all year, including to Jackson. Monken’s offense was inconsistent, Zach Orr’s defense regressed, and Harbaugh’s decision-making was under the microscope, most recently when Derrick Henry didn’t receive a carry in the final 12 minutes of a Week 16 loss to the New England Patriots.
The Harbaugh era in Baltimore wasn’t exempt from scandal
Ray Rice, a 2008 second-round pick from Rutgers, led the team in rushing from 2009-13. But the Ravens cut the three-time Pro Bowler in 2014, after he was captured on video attacking his now-wife, Janay, in a domestic violence incident that ultimately led to the end of his playing career.
Rice was initially suspended for just two games by the NFL, which claimed not to have seen the video at the time the punishment was issued. But when video became public, that suspension turned indefinite. The league’s mishandling of the situation led to serious backlash toward NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and sparked conversation about the league’s disciplinary policies.
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Although Rice was reinstated, he didn’t play in another NFL game.
Last year, the Ravens found themselves in the spotlight again. This time, they released eight-time All-Pro kicker Justin Tucker, who was accused by several massage therapists of sexually inappropriate behavior during bodywork sessions from 2012-16. The NFL suspended Tucker without pay for the first 10 weeks of the 2025 season, but he went unsigned this season.
Harbaugh and Tomlin faced each other 44 times over the past 18 seasons. The Steelers held a 23-17 advantage in regular-season matchups against the Ravens in that span.
The teams split their four playoff games against each other.
Baltimore knocked Pittsburgh out of the wild-card round last season. This year, the Steelers are playing in the wild-card round because they swept the Ravens in the regular season.
He almost certainly won’t remain unemployed for long if he chooses to not sit out the 2026 season. The moment the Ravens announced Harbaugh’s dismissal Tuesday, he reportedly shot to the top of the charts for several teams seeking a new head coach.
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And, according to multiple reports, even teams without current openings are interested. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Tuesday that seven teams reached out to Harbaugh’s agent with interest in the hour after his dismissal. There are only six teams other than the Ravens with head-coaching vacancies.
As of Tuesday evening there was no indication either way that Harbaugh does or doesn’t want to jump directly into another head-coaching job. If he does, he’ll likely have a long line of suitors, and all indications point to Harbaugh having his choice of openings.
Let’s take a look at the Harbaugh’s potential landing spots and how appealing they might be to Harbaugh, starting with the teams that actually have vacancies.
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New York Giants
The Giants immediately emerged in reports as an eager suitor. Per Schefter, Harbaugh is expected to be at or near the top of their list.
Few teams in recent years have failed to find stability at head coach quite like the Giants. Since Tom Coughlin retired in 2016, the Giants have whiffed with Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge and Brian Daboll, in addition to employing Steve Spagnuolo and Mike Kafka in the interim.
If you’re counting, that’s six head coaches in 10 seasons, and the instability has played out on the field. The Giants have posted just two winning seasons and made two playoff appearances in those 10 years.
John Harbaugh appears to have no shortage of suitors if he wants to coach next season.
(Michael Owens via Getty Images)
The Giants believe they have their quarterback of the future in Jaxson Dart, and the pressure to get things right around him is immense. No coach other than Mike Tomlin screams stability quite like Harbaugh, who coached the Ravens for 18 seasons.
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The Giants also consider themselves one of the NFL’s glamour franchises. Whether that’s accurate is up for debate. But hiring Harbaugh is a glamour-franchise move.
Cardinals, Falcons, Raiders Titans
Let’s call this the middle tier. The Cardinals, Falcons, Raiders and Titans all have openings. They’re all desperate to turn around a lengthy run of losing. They all presumably will pursue Harbaugh.
The Cardinals’ future is very much in flux, and that starts with quarterback Kyler Murray. He missed most of the 2025 season with a sprained foot, and the Cardinals didn’t appear to be in any hurry to get him back on the field amid continued rumors that this season would be his last with the franchise. With no coach and a murky quarterback plan, Arizona’s path forward is unclear.
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The Falcons are likewise in a quarterback quandary with an expensive hobbled veteran in Kirk Cousins, and a young former first-round draft pick in Michael Penix Jr., who suffered the third ACL tear of his football career this season at 25 years old. There’s still hope in Atlanta that Penix is the quarterback of the future, but that’s far from a certainty. There is significant talent outside of quarterback that could entice Harbaugh, starting with stud running back Bijan Robinson.
Would John Harbaugh be enticed to work with an unproven but high-upside young quarterback in Cam Ward?
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
The Raiders don’t have a quarterback, but they’ll have their choice with the No. 1 pick in April’s NFL Draft. Will it be Fernando Mendoza? Will it be Dante Moore? Are either of them enticing enough to lure Harbaugh to a team that’s been largely dysfunctional since its move to Las Vegas?
The Titans, meanwhile, hope they have their quarterback of the future in place. It was a rough rookie campaign for No. 1 pick Cam Ward in 2025 as the Titans finished 3-14. But Ward has plenty of upside that he flashed, and the Titans surely plan to be patient with their young quarterback. Is that a journey Harbaugh wants to take?
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Cleveland Browns
The Browns are as desperate for stability and relevance as any of these teams — perhaps even more so. And despite a 5-12 campaign, they boast one of the league’s best defenses anchored by presumptive two-time Defensive Player of the Year and new single-season sack king Myles Garrett.
Quarterback remains a mess, and anybody who has convinced themselves that Shedeur Sanders is the answer is fooling themselves. But there’s a foundation here not dissimilar to those that Harbaugh rode to success in Baltimore.
The Browns would surely be stoked to land Harbaugh. But is this really where he wants to be? Does he want to dive straight back into the AFC North grind to battle with the Steelers and his former Ravens twice a year?
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Miami Dolphins
This is where things get really interesting.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel has been on the hot seat since a disastrous Week 1 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. But a 5-3 finish to the season appears to have saved his job. For now.
McDaniel survived Black Monday, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa appears to be the fall guy for Miami’s woes and on his way out. But the Dolphins haven’t explicitly stated that McDaniel’s job is safe. Does Harbaugh’s addition to the open market change the equation in Miami?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Todd Bowles likewise survived Black Monday after a 2-7 finish tanked Tampa Bay’s season and knocked the Buccaneers out of the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Bowles coached the Bucs to three of those playoff berths.
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But previously winning the only playoff berth out of a perpetually mediocre NFC South carries less weight when your season ends like Tampa Bay’s did. The heat is certainly on.
Wherever Harbaugh goes, his offensive coordinator Todd Monken may go with him. Harbaugh reportedly fought for Monken with the Ravens before they fired him. Monken previously worked as Baker Mayfield’s offensive coordinator with the Browns in 2019 and spent three years before that as Tampa Bay’s OC. Whether that would be a check in the plus column for the Bucs is unclear.
Per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, Washington “plans to pursue legal avenues and has been in contact with officials from Big Ten, who draft rev-share contracts for its league members.”
Williams: ‘I have to do what is best for me’
This report arrived Tuesday night, shortly after Williams issued a statement on social media announcing his decision to enter the transfer portal.
Williams’ statement went at length to offer thanks to the Washington program, its coaching staff, his teammates and the Seattle community before concluding with this:
“I have to do what is best for me and my future. After much thought and prayer, I will be entering the transfer portal.”
Will Williams end up at LSU?
It’s not clear what sparked Williams’ decision to transfer and walk away from a deal that ESPN reported was “near the top of the market.” But CBS Sports reported Tuesday night that Lane Kiffin and LSU are expected to pursue Williams.
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In the nascent world of NIL, it’s also not clear what legal standing Washington has to enforce the original agreement and whether the pursuit will be worthwhile with a player who doesn’t want to be there.
Wherever Williams plays next season, he’ll do so as one of the top quarterbacks in the country. In 13 games last season, he completed 69.5% of his passes for 3,065 yards with 25 touchdowns and 8 interceptions for a Washington team that finished 9-4 and in seventh in the Big Ten.
TCU looked like it was ready to secure a massive upset win on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
Darryn Peterson, somehow, found a way to fend the Horned Frogs off down the stretch.
Peterson scored a career-high 32 and helped spark a ridiculous 20-6 run to end regulation and force overtime in Lawrence, which eventually allowed No. 22 Kansas to escape its home floor with a 104-100 win over TCU. That gave the Jayhawks their first conference win of the season and avoided what would have been a second straight loss, something Kansas hasn’t done to start Big 12 play since the early 1990s.
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Though Kansas looked like it was in full control in the first half, things quickly spiraled after the break. The Horned Frogs outscored Kansas 31-10 to open the second half, and even mounted an 18-3 run over a four-minute span. That put them up by 14 points near the midway point of the period, and they held onto a nine-point lead with 74 seconds left in the second half.
But Kansas, finally coming back alive, answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Jamari McDowell and Melvin Council, who completed a four-point play after drawing a foul, to immediately cut the deficit to a single possession. Then Peterson drew a foul with less than two seconds left on an off-balanced 3-pointer that sent him to the free-throw line, where he tied the game up to send it into overtime.
Kansas opened the extra period on a 10-4 run and survived in the final minute to pull out the four-point win.
Liutauras Lelevicius led TCU with 23 points, and David Punch finished with 20 and nine rebounds. Micah Robinson added 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
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Had TCU (11-4) held on in regulation, it would have marked its second win over a ranked opponent this season after its four-point win over Florida in November. Tuesday night was the first of a rough stretch for the Horned Frogs as they’ll host No. 1 Arizona on Saturday and then take on No. 9 BYU next week.
The true bright side for Kansas throughout the game — other than the rally that brought them back into contention — was Peterson’s return. Peterson, who had missed seven straight games with a hamstring injury and cramps, came back Saturday and played 23 minutes in Kansas’ loss to UCF off the bench. He made it back into the starting lineup and looked like his old self Tuesday even before the late heroics.
Peterson had six rebounds and shot 8-of-18 from the field to go with his 32 points. Tre White added 22 for the Jayhawks. Melvin Council Jr. added 18 points and eight assists.
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While it took a lot to get it there, Kansas (11-4) avoided what would have been a historic loss that could have sent its season into a spiral.