Kansas City, Mo. — For most of the Jayhawks, there was nothing on the line but pride for Thursday’s game against Texas Tech.

For Sherron Collins and, presumably, Cole Aldrich, it’s a different story. Now that the year has reached that part of the season when every game is win-or-go-home, Collins and Aldrich, in what will likely be their last year in a Kansas uniform (for Collins it is, for Aldrich it is likely he will go pro), every win extends their crimson-and-blue career just a little bit longer.

“It’s one of those things, we’ve got to come together as a team and create our own energy and get the whole team involved with getting pumped up for the game, whether it’s at 11:30 in the morning or 8 at night,” Aldrich said.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Basketball vs. Texas Tech

Photos from the Jayhawk's 80-68 victory against Texas Tech Thursday night at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

It comes as little surprise, then, that it was those two who led the Jayhawks in an uninspired 80-68 victory against Texas Tech.

“Last year, we took an early exit and this year we’re trying to prevent that,” Collins said. “We already won the regular season, so we know we’ve still got to be motivated to win the tournament as well. We’re trying not to have any slipups.”

Collins finished with a game high 19 points on just eight field goal attempts and led the Jayhawks with six assists, despite the fewest minutes played since the first Texas Tech game with foul trouble.

“I think I shot it pretty good,” Collins said. “Took a couple of bad shots. But I’ve gotta do a better job staying out of foul trouble and putting my team in tough positions.

Aldrich finished with his 14th double-double on the season with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting and a season-high 18 rebounds.

“He can manufacture points off transition, off board play, off scoring before he catches,” Bill Self said. “What I mean by that is they throw it to him and it’s just an easy basket.”

Both Collins and Aldrich have a tendency to defer if a teammate is having a great game. When Xavier Henry had his career-high 31 points, Collins just fed him the rock, finishing with six assists and just five points. Similarly, when Marcus Morris was dominant offensively, Aldrich would let him run the show. In Morris’ four 20-point games, Aldrich averaged 9.5 points.

“Cole’s got to be hungry to score. He’s not as hungry to score as he was last year at this particular moment,” Self said. “That’s one thing that we have to do. We’ve got to be able to throw the ball to him, have him come away with points or fouls.”

It was the first time since the California game in December of 2009 that both Aldrich and Collins had peak statistical performances — Aldrich with a double-double and Collins with 15-plus points and 5-plus assists.