K-State Wildcats vs. TCU Horned Frogs: Big 12 men’s tournament prediction, line, TV
The details
When/where: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, T-Mobile Center in Kansas City
TV/radio: ESPN; KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita, KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City.
Line: TCU -3
Projected lineups
P | No. | TCU | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
C | 21 | Kevin Samuel | 6-11 | Jr. | 9.1 |
F | 5 | Chuck O’Bannon | 6-6 | Jr. | 6.8 |
G | 4 | P.J. Fuller | 6-4 | So. | 5.7 |
G | 22 | R.J. Nembhard | 6-5 | Jr. | 15.9 |
G | 1 | Mike Miles | 6-1 | Fr. | 13.8 |
P | No. | Kansas State | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
F | 21 | Davion Bradford | 7-0 | Fr. | 7.3 |
G | 2 | Selton Miguel | 6-4 | Fr. | 7.2 |
G | 3 | DaJuan Gordon | 6-4 | So. | 9.0 |
G | 21 | Mike McGuirl | 6-2 | Sr. | 11.9 |
G | 24 | Nijel Pack | 6-0 | Fr. | 12.0 |
About TCU (12-13, 5-11 Big 12): The Horned Frogs have struggled mightily over the past month, as they have lost six of their past seven games. And their only victory in that stretch came against lowly Iowa State. This has been a difficult year for coach Jamie Dixon. Unless TCU can win two games at the Big 12 Tournament this will be the first losing season of his long career. But the Horned Frogs have notched some quality victories this year, including a sweep against Oklahoma State. R.J. Nembhard is one of the top scorers in the conference and Mike Miles made the all-freshman team.
About Kansas State (8-19, 4-14 Big 12): The Wildcats enter the Big 12 Tournament playing their best basketball of the season. They have won three of their past four games, and that hot streak began with a road victory against TCU. K-State will be limited in the paint throughout the postseason, as sophomore forward Antonio Gordon has been ruled out for the remainder of the season because of “total health issues.” That means the Wildcats will play small ball in Kansas City with Selton Miguel, DaJuan Gordon and Luke Kasubke splitting time at the four spot. Mike McGuirl had a strong game against the Horned Frogs a few weeks ago when he had 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Prediction: These two teams always seems to meet in the early rounds of the Big 12 Tournament, and they typically play close games when they do.
Both of their games in the regular season were nail-biters that were decided by single digits. The rubber match should be no different.
But K-State seems to have an edge in this game, because it is playing better basketball than TCU at the moment. The Horned Frogs are not scoring at the same rate they were early in the season and have only averaged 61.6 points during their past seven games.
The Wildcats thrive in slow-paced affairs and they shouldn’t have much trouble keeping this game in the 50s or low 60s if they continue playing defense the way they have recently.
As long as they can do that and get some scoring production from Nijel Pack and Mike McGuirl they can continue their hot streak and reach the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Kansas State 63, TCU 58.