TCU 82, Kansas State 68: That Winning Feeling

Although just 10 days ago TCU was leaving Waco with a win over Baylor, it has felt like an eternity, as since then the Horned Frogs basketball team dropped games in the final minute to ranked squads Iowa State and Texas, and TCU Football was, well we all know what happened against Georgia. The Horned Frogs needed to get something to go its way, some morsel of positivity to bring the fanbase forward out of the darkness. While there will certainly be scars for some time resulting from Monday night’s National Championship, a romping win in Schollmaier Arena over the #11 Kansas State Wildcats allows the Horned Frog fandom to turn the page.

Coming off the game in Austin where Mike Miles had zero (0) assists and the Horned Frogs only had 11 total assists as a team, on Saturday Mike Miles had 11 dimes himself as the Frogs dished out 22 total assists vs. KSU. The 11 assists gave Mike Miles his first career double-double as he also contributed 13 points to the effort. TCU continued its stellar play as the nation’s leader in fast break points, scoring 32 of its points on the run vs K-State, thanks in part to a lockdown defensive effort that forced 20 turnovers.

Eddie Lampkin had his best scoring game of the season, dropping 17 points while shooting 6-7 from the field and 5-8 from the free throw line. The Horned Frogs dominated down low, scoring 54 of its points in the paint. Emanuel Miller also had his best scoring day of the campaign, with a game-leading 23 points, as he was the only Horned Frog to do any damage from beyond the arc. That was the one black cloud over the beautiful day, TCU’s accuracy on three-pointers was abysmal, shooting just 3-19 (16%) from long range. Despite that inability to knock down three-pointers, the Frogs were able to build a giant cushion, TCU’s largest lead was 25, which was sufficient to withstand the final push from the Wildcats.

Kansas State picked up its first loss in conference play (4-1) and drop to 15-2 overall. The Wildcats will next host their Sunflower State rival, and defending National Champions, #2 Kansas Jayhawks on Tuesday on ESPN.

TCU improves to 14-3 for the season, 3-2 in the Big 12, with a week ahead of tough road games. The Horned Frogs will travel to Morgantown for a Mountaineers squad looking to earn its first conference win of the season on Wednesday on ESPN+. TCU then will head to Allen Fieldhouse to face off with Kansas, Saturday at Noon on CBS.