A win at Kansas could spring TCU toward March Madness

Not that long ago, TCU made a road trip to the Sunflower State while dragging a four-game losing streak. The Horned Frogs responded with a Feb. 1 victory at Kansas State.

TCU heads back to Kansas for a 6 p.m. Wednesday matchup in search of breaking another losing streak during a turnaround season that includes NCAA Tournament hopes. But this time, the challenge is increased.

TCU (17-10, 6-8 in Big 12) faces No. 3 Kansas (24-3, 12-2) on a night when the Jayhawks can clinch a share of their 13th consecutive league championship at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. The Frogs are 0-5 in career visits to Allen Fieldhouse, including 0-4 as a Big 12 member. They have lost their last nine meetings against the Jayhawks.

Unless the Frogs break some of those unsightly precedents while ending the team’s three-game skid, TCU’s hopes of being a part of March Madness for the first time since 1998 will take another hit. The Frogs could rebound with a closing surge over their final three games.

But players and coach Jamie Dixon know a road victory in Lawrence would do more to enhance this team’s postseason résumé than any potential triumph remaining on the regular-season schedule. They also know Iowa State (18-9, 10-5) won in Lawrence on Feb. 4, breaking KU’s 54-game home winning streak. So hope springs eternal for a team with two Big 12 road triumphs on this year’s ledger (Texas, Kansas State) after TCU posted a 1-35 road record in its first four seasons in the Big 12.

“Mentally, we’re good. We’re fine,” TCU guard Kenrich Williams said, reflecting on the impact of the team’s three-game slide that has dropped TCU from a projected No. 8 seed to a 12th-seeded bubble rider in the latest round of NCAA bracket chatter. “We had a talk after the game … We always seem to play Kansas pretty good. I’ve got confidence in our team. We’re going to be ready.”

During the teams’ Dec. 30 meeting in Fort Worth, Kansas secured an 86-80 victory in the conference opener for both schools. TCU fell 80-73 in last year’s meeting in Lawrence, the Frogs’ closest brush with a victory in Allen Fieldhouse. Dixon, a former TCU player who led Pittsburgh to 11 NCAA tournaments in 13 seasons before taking over the Frogs’ program this season, points to the defensive end of the court as the area where TCU must raise its game to end its slide, which has come against three NCAA-caliber opponents (No. 9 Baylor, Oklahoma State, Iowa State).

TCU also needs to get back to closing out the tight games, as it did during its 86-80 overtime victory over Kansas State in its last trip to Kansas. The Frogs are 5-5 in league play during contests settled by single-digit margins but only 2-4 in their last six contests decided in that manner. The list includes last week’s 71-68 loss to Oklahoma State (18-9, 7-7), when the Cowboys outscored TCU 6-0 over the final 1:29 in Fort Worth.

The next opportunity comes Wednesday in Kansas, the state where the Frogs broke their longest losing streak this season. But this time, they’ll be facing a Jayhawks’ team focused on winning a 13th consecutive Big 12 title.

This story was originally published February 21, 2017 at 4:16 PM with the headline "A win at Kansas could spring TCU toward March Madness."