KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Leaning on stars Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins, No. 1 Kansas became the third team to reach 2,000 wins by pulling out an 80-68 victory over scrappy Texas Tech on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.
"It means a lot to us right now, but right now we still have a lot of games ahead of us and we don't want to put too much focus on it," Collins said. "It means a lot to people who support us, all the players who played before us and all the people who support the program, so it's more for them than for us."
Kansas (30-2) was upset by Baylor in last year's Big 12 tournament and seemed headed for another with an uneven start. The Jayhawks slogged through a sloppy first half and had to withstand a Texas Tech rally in the second before pulling away to reach 30 wins for the ninth time, including three of the past four years.
Aldrich had 12 points, 18 rebounds and altered the game defensively, while Collins had 19 points and six assists despite foul trouble. Markieff Morris provided a lift off the bench with 11 points and nine rebounds, and Xavier Henry added 13 points help Kansas join Kentucky and North Carolina in the 2,000-win club.
"We can improve on a lot of things," Kansas coach Bill Self said.
Texas Tech (17-15) all but secured an NIT berth by beating Colorado in the opener, but its only chance at an NCAA berth was to win the Big 12 tournament. The Red Raiders gave themselves at least a shot against the nation's top-ranked team, answering every run but one.
