Conference tournament season is upon us and TCU will get its first bit of the action on Thursday when it squares off with Kansas State in the final quarterfinal of the Big 12 tournament. The Horned Frogs and the Wildcats have met twice this season, splitting the season series 1-1.
The Frogs are coming off a puzzling 14-point loss to Oklahoma, the Big 12’s last placed team. TCU scored just 60 points in the loss and shot 37.7% from the field. Simply put, a bounce back will be necessary.
Eddie Lampkin, the team’s second leading rebounder, did not travel to Kansas City and thus will not be suiting up for TCU in the tournament. Lampkin stepped away from the team this week, citing a perhaps strenuous relationship with head coach Jamie Dixon. The Frogs will miss the presence of Lampkin, who is what some may call the “heartbeat” of this team, but TCU has played without him for a portion of its Big 12 season.
Lampkin went down with an ankle injury in the convincing Jan. 21 victory over Kansas and missed the following two games. Since then, he has played in just games and has logged over 20 minutes in just two of them. Big men Xavier Cork and JaKobe Coles have stepped up in his absence.
As for the game against Kansas State, the result is anybody’s guess. In the two games the squads have played this season, the results were polar opposites. In the first matchup on Jan. 14, the Frogs dominated the Wildcats 82-68. Emanuel Miller was outstanding in the win, finishing with 23 points on 9/17 shooting, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Lampkin followed closely with 17 points of his own on 6/7 shooting and 6 rebounds.
In the second game of the series, it was the Wildcats who were dominant. They won 82-61 and the dangerous duo of Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell combined for 32 points. The Horned Frogs fought without star guard Mike Miles, who was recovering from a knee hyperextension. Damion Baugh stepped up and led the way for the Miles-less Frogs, scoring 16 points in 37 minutes. Once again, Miller was good, scoring 10 points on 9 rebounds.
In the early season win over Kansas State, TCU’s offense scored 32 fastbreak points and 54 points in the paint while shooting 46.5% from the field. In the loss, the offense scored 10 fastbreak points and 38 points in the paint while shooting 43.9% from the field. In both games, the Frogs shot under 20% from three.
These statistics paint a pretty clear picture about what makes the Horned Frogs successful; fastbreak points and points in the paint. In both games, TCU struggled from three. This is no surprise as TCU is not a three-point shooting team. But the only way to make up for that poor percentage is to take advantage of these other areas in which they are successful.
Kansas State is coming off a loss to West Virginia where the Wildcats turned the ball over 20 times. Kansas State ranks 320th in turnovers per game, averaging 14.2 per contest. In the Wildcats loss to TCU, they turned it over 20 times.
There is no other way to initiate a fastbreak than creating a turnover. TCU ranks 27th in turnovers forced per game, averaging 15.65 per game. If the frisky Horned Frog defense can use its strength of creating turnovers to exploit Kansas State’s weakness of turning the ball over, fastbreak points will be scored.
The Frogs begin their quest to win their first Big 12 championship on Thursday night at 8:30pm in Kansas City. The game is available to watch on ESPN.
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