TCU Basketball vs Illinois State: Preview, How to Watch

The Frogs return home after a two game road trip that saw them drop their first contest of the young season. Though the way they lost to Clemson was bad, TCU bounced back to dominate a sneaky good Wyoming team, and now have a chance to build their non-conference resume with a solid week featuring Illinois State and USC.

Game Information:

Broadcast: FSSW+

Play-By-Play: Brian Estridge

Analyst: Colin Boddicker

Online: FOXSportsGo.com

Radio: KTCU 88.7 FM // SIRIUS 982 (online)

Play-By-Play: Jeff Williams

Analyst: John Denton

Online: HFTV // TuneIn

Series: TCU leads 2-0

In Fort Worth: TCU leads 1-0

Neutral Site: TCU leads 1-0

First Meeting: TCU won 71-60 (11/25/15) in Cancun

Last Meeting: TCU won 80-71 (11/21/16) in Fort Worth

Winning Streak: TCU W2

Dixon vs. ISU: 1-0

Game Notes:

• TCU will open the month of December when it hosts Illinois State on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
• The game pits two coaches in charge of their alma mater against each other. Jamie Dixon (TCU) and Dan Muller (Illinois State) are two of the 38 NCAA Division I head coaches at their alma mater.
• TCU ranks 14th in the nation with 10.3 3-pointers made per game and 16th in scoring defense allowing just 58.0 points per game.
• Since the 2014-15 season, the Frogs have gone 60-9 in November and December combined. Under Jamie Dixon (since 2016-17), TCU has gone 39-5 in November and December combined. Also, under Dixon, TCU has gone 51-10 in nonconference games.
• TCU has two returning starters from last season, senior Desmond Bane and sophomore Kevin Samuel. Bane has scored over 20 points in half of TCU’s games (three times) and ranks fourth in the Big 12 with a scoring average of 18.0 points per game. Samuel has recorded three double-doubles and ranks third in the Big 12 with 8.5 rebounds per game and fifth in the nation by shooting 73.2 percent from the field. Samuel’s four double-doubles this season leads the Big 12 and ranks 10th in the nation.
• Bane has earned multiple preseason honors. He was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, was one of 20 players nationally named to the watch list for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year award and was named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 which is given to the best player in the nation.
• At 1,361 career points, Bane is 12th on TCU’s all-time scoring list. He is three points shy of Vladimir Brodziansky (1,364, 2016-18) for 11th.

Last Time Out:

Desmond Bane’s second consecutive double-double and a stifling defensive effort propelled TCU to a 64-47 win over Wyoming on Nov. 26 in the consolation game of the MGM Resorts Main Event at T-Mobile Arena. TCU was led by Bane’s game-high 22 points and career-high 11 rebounds on 8-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. The Horned Frogs held the Cowboys to just 14 points in the first half.

About the Opponent:

Illinois State is 3-4 this season after a 76-57 win over IllinoisSpringfield on Friday. The Redbirds out of the Missouri Valley Conference are led by senior guard Zach Copeland who averages 14.9 points per game and scored 18 Friday. Copeland and junior guard Matt Chastain are only returning starters for ISU. Similar to TCU, Illinois State has just three returners from last year’s team, which went 17-16 and finished fifth in the MVC.

Series History:

TCU leads the all-time series 2-0. The last meeting was in head coach Jamie Dixon’s first season at TCU, an 80-71 win on Nov. 21, 2016. The other meeting came in the consolation game of the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico, 71-60, in on Nov. 25, 2015.

Up Next:

TCU will play in the first-ever basketball game at Dickies Arena, Fort Worth’s new arena that opened this fall, against USC on Friday at 8 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPN2.