TCU Basketball Preview + Prediction: vs. Mississippi Valley State

Improvement.

That’s been the early season mantra for this TCU Basketball team.

After dropping a “buy” game early in the year to Northwestern State, the Horned Frogs have looked more and more like the team we saw last season.

Last week’s game was a showing of that improvement, and was one of the best offensive performances the Frogs had shown all year.

While it wasn’t dominating, it was a comfortable, 83-75 win against SMU, and TCU kept the proverbial Iron Skillet in Fort Worth.

Now, the Frogs get another “buy” game, this time against lowly Mississippi Valley State, as the Delta Devils travel to Schollmaier Arena to take on these surging Frogs.

Dec. 18 vs Mississippi Valley State

There, really, isn’t much to “preview” for this Mississippi Valley State team.

They’re bad.

The Delta Devils have played 12 games this season. They’re 1-11. The only game won was a home game versus North Alabama. Out of 10 games played on the road, the Delta Devils are 0-10.

Mississippi Valley State’s offense is one of the worst in the country. The Delta Devils are ranked 322nd in the country in Points Per Game, scoring only 67.2 PPG.

It’s, in large part, due to its inefficient outside shooting, shooting only 30.1% from 3-Point range, as the Delta Devils’ tempo is near the NCAA average.

Out of the “bottom-tier” teams the Frogs have played so far this season, most play at a snail’s pace, so I wouldn’t be shocked if the Delta Devils sped up play a bit.

In terms of who the Frogs should be looking out for, Senior G Terry Collins is easily the Delta Devils most important player. Transferring from Independence Community College after his freshman year, he’s been a key piece of the Delta Devils for a few years now, and scoring 15.3 PPG, he’s a threat to score every time he touches the ball. He’s also Mississippi Valley State’s most potent shooter, leading the team in 3-Pointers made.

The only other “key” member to the Delta Devils’ offense is Junior G Danny Washington, who transferred from East Mississippi Community College (yes, Last Dance U) this off-season, and is scoring 7.3 PPG at a 37.2% clip.

But - the difference in talent level is just going to be too large for the Delta Devils to overcome.

The Frogs are surging, and it looks like all the pieces are finally starting to come together for the #21 ranked team in the country.

If this game is played at a fast pace, as I suspect it will be, I still like the Frogs’ ability to run with the Delta Devils.

This will be an easy Sunday win for Frogs basketball.

Prediction:

TCU 82, Mississippi Valley State 57