Big 12 Tournament: TCU Basketball vs Kansas State Preview and Gamethread

MARCH 10 | T-MOBILE CENTER | KANSAS CITY, MO. | 5:30 PM

GAME INFORMATION

Broadcast: ESPN

Play-By-Play: Bob Wischusen

Analyst: Fran Fraschilla

Reporter: Holly Rowe

Online: WatchESPN.com // ESPN App

Radio: KLIF 570 AM | XM/Online: 199/953

Play-By-Play: Brian Estridge

Analyst: John Denton

Online: HFTV // TuneIn

Series: KSU leads 18-9

In Fort Worth: KSU leads 7-3

In Manhattan: KSU leads 8-4

Neutral: KSU leads 3-2

First Meeting: KSU won 75-17, Dec. 11, 1947 at KSU

Last Meeting: KSU won 62-54, Feb. 20, 2021 at TCU

Winning Streak: KSU, W1

Dixon vs. KSU: 6-6

NOTES

- The first game of the 2021 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship will be the same as the last game of last year’s tournament. No. 8 seed TCU (12-13, 5-11) will face No. 9 seed Kansas State (8-19, 4-14) in the first round at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.

- It will be a rematch of the final game of the 2020 championship when the two teams met in the first round before COVID-19 forced the tournament to be canceled.

- All but three of TCU’s losses this season have come against teams with a NET ranking of 33 or better and are to teams currently ranked in the top 25. TCU is 10-3 in non-quadrant 1 games. TCU has two Q1 wins, both against Oklahoma State, which is currently ranked 12th in the AP Poll.

- In his fifth season as TCU’s head coach, Jamie Dixon is four wins away from 100. In his 18th season as head coach, Dixon has never had a losing season.

- TCU is 5-8 in the Big 12 Championship and 3-4 under Dixon.

- TCU features one of the top backcourts in the Big 12 with freshman Mike Miles and junior RJ Nembhard, both earned All-Big 12 Conference honors this week. Nembhard was on the third team and Miles was honorable mention as well as on the All-Freshman Team.

- Nembhard is fifth in the Big 12 in scoring with 15.9 points per game. His seven 20-point games rank fourth in the Big 12. Nembhard also ranks seventh in assists (4.0).

- Miles has four 20-point games this season, the second-most of any freshman in the Big 12. He also ranks 13th in the Big 12 in scoring (13.8). Among freshmen, his scoring average is second in the Big 12 and 15th nationally.

- Junior center Kevin Samuel is TCU’s career leader with 205 blocked shots, which ranks as the sixth most nationally among active players. His 1.7 blocks per game leads the Big 12.

- Samuel ranks third in the Big 12 with 7.9 rebounds per game and first with 3.0 offensive rebounds per game.

- TCU is one of the youngest teams in the country with nine underclassmen. According to KenPom, the Frogs rank 319 out of 345 teams in experience with an average of 1.14 years per player.

LAST TIME OUT

No. 15 Texas’ second-half run and 3-point barrage were too much for TCU to overcome in a 76-64 loss on Sunday. TCU was led by RJ Nembhard’s 13 points. Mike Miles added 12 points to go with a team-high six rebounds and four assists.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT

Kansas State has won three of its last four games. KSU won its last game, 61-56, against Iowa State on Saturday. Freshman Nijel Pack leads the team in scoring at 12.0 points per game. Senior Mike McGuril averages 11.9 points and was named All-Big 12 Conference Honorable Mention.

SERIES HISTORY

Kansas State leads the overall series 18-9 and is 3-2 in neutral site meetings with TCU. The two teams split the season series with each team winning on the road. TCU won at KSU, 67-60, and KSU won at TCU, 62-54. K-State has knocked off TCU in each of the last three years at the Big 12 Championship.

UP NEXT

The winner faces No. 1 seed Baylor in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.