Men's Basketball: TCU Looks to Keep Tournament Hopes Alive Against West Virginia

TCU's win over top-10 Texas Tech last Tuesday launched the once-on life support Horned Frogs into the outskirts of the bubble. A road win over West Virginia this week would put TCU squarely on the bubble as Selection Sunday creeps closer.

Jamie Dixon's squad is hitting its stride at the right time, winning five of seven games so far in the month of February. TCU dropped its recent game at Cincinnati on Saturday, and while a win there would have been huge for the team's tournament hopes, a loss did not dash them. In ESPN's Joe Lunardi's recent Bracketology, he has TCU listed behind the First Four Out and the Next Four Out sections. A win in Morgantown would go a long way in moving the team in the right direction.

The Horned Frogs bested West Virginia in Fort Worth 65-60 on Feb. 5. Their guard duo of Vasean Allette and Noah Reynolds was excellent as the two combined for 44 of TCU's 65 points. It was one of Allette's best outings of the season, finishing the game with an additional 11 rebounds and five assists. Outside of Allette and Reynolds, nobody in the Horned Frogs' lineup finished with double digit points, which is something that will need to chance against the Mountaineers. It will be crucial that players like Trazarien White and Jace Posey continue their recently elevated level of play to take some pressure off of TCU's starting backcourt.

Defensively, the gameplan should be the exact same as last time. West Virginia guard Javon Small is one of the best players in the country, let alone in the Big 12. Small, who averages just over 18 points per game, is going to get his on offense. The key for the Frogs will be to make anybody else beat them. In the teams' previous meeting, Small overcame a slow start and scored 20 points on 8/19 shooting. The rest of the starting lineup scored a combined 20 points. The Mountaineers did get an additional 21 points off the bench thanks to 11 and 10-point performances from Joseph Yesefu and Eduardo Andre respectively.

TCU also dominated the rebounding battle the last time these two teams faced each other, outpacing the Mountaineers 34 rebounds to 26. Ernest Udeh Jr. and David Punch have provided a consistent rebounding presence during Big 12, but often times those two are not enough. The rest of the team will have to contribute to the rebounding effort. True freshman Malick Diallo has seen his minutes increase lately, a development that has helped TCU in the rebounding department.

A win over West Virginia on the road would not lock TCU into the tournament, but it will keep them alive and in the hunt, and at this point in the season, that is all the Horned Frogs can hope for.

How to Watch, Listen and Stream: TCU vs. Arizona State

Tipoff - 8 pm CT, Tuesday, February 25th

Television - CBS Sports Network

• Play-By-Play: Jordan Kent
  Analyst: Mike O'Donnell

Radio - : Talk Radio 1190 AM KFXR

• Play-By-Play: Brian Estridge
  Analyst: Neil P Dougherty
  Online: Varsity App, GoFrogs.com
  SiriusXM: 390