Boarding is a form of torture: KSU 65, TCU 53

The Frogs hung tough with the wildcats in the first half, forcing the Wildcats into fouls and plentiful turnovers, making K-State cough the ball up more in one half than they average in an entire game.  However, the close score was masking a big issue with the Frogs- only Kyan Anderson was actually putting the ball in the basket with any regularity.  Throughout the first half the only other frog to make two shots was Amric Fields, who had a fairly off game (going just 1-4 in the second half, and 0-4 from three), as Karviar Shepherd was doing good work but being careful to keep his nose clean and not to pick up fouls that would leave the already short-handed Frogs even shorter (literally).

In the second half Shepherd was forced into a more active role on offense to keep the Frogs in the game, which he did fairly well, but he picked up his fourth foul on a questionable charge with about ten minutes left in the second half and suddenly those keys to the game that Jamie was kind enough to include in the game thread post slip well out of reach.

Jamie's keys to the game:

1. Rebound

2. Stay out of foul trouble

3. Win

Without Shepherd managing key #2, key #1 exploded to the tune of the wildcats outrebounding the frogs by 22 (and at better than a 2:1 ratio).  The damage was particularly bad when the Wildcats had the ball, as K-State continued to struggle with TCU's initial defense, but 17 offensive rebounds led to numerous tip-ins and easy second chances for the Wildcats that greatly boosted their shooting percentage.  Unlike most TCU games this season, there was no great run that eventually buried the Frogs, but just a slow and steady build from down one at the half (and tied early in the second half) to trailing by four for a while, then seven for a while, then nine for a while until finally it ended with the margin you see.

Frog of the game: Kyan Anderson is the easy pick, as he was not only TCU's only weapon in the first half, but forced three turnovers as well.  He only had one assist tonight, but that's much more a testament to how poorly Frogs not named Kyan Anderson were shooting on the night than him dominating the ball.

Dud of the game: Brandon Parrish, ugh.  I know you're young and there can be an 0-5 night here and there, but there's no excuse for a 0 rebound game, especially when Shepherd had to sit for so much of the second half with foul trouble.

Anything to feel good about?: The frogs were close throughout, even with a dismal shooting performance from non-Anderson folks, and Anderson continued to play into All-Big 12 team conversations (probably second team at this point).  This team is too young and too thin on the bench to steal a game from a team like K-State on the road just yet, but there's still plenty of reason to hope that they can still pick up a Big 12 win somewhere in their last five games.  If not... there's still next year's healthy and transfer-eligible team to look forward to.