TCU, Dixon on West Virginia matchup: ‘Biggest game of the year’

With no prompting, TCU coach Jamie Dixon called Saturday’s game against West Virginia “the biggest game of the year.”

He said he put it that way to his team after a loss at Kansas on Wednesday night left the Horned Frogs’ NCAA Tournament hopes dangling.

“You can’t hide from it. I told the guys after the game, ‘We’ve got our biggest game of the year,’ ” Dixon said before practice Thursday. “I don’t know how often you say that, but this is a fact. We’ve got an opportunity. We know where we’re at. We’re in, but we’ve got to win.”

No. 12 West Virginia is the last chance in the regular season for the Frogs (17-11, 6-9 Big 12) to pad their résumé with a victory against a ranked team. Their final two games are against fading Kansas State and last-place Oklahoma.

USA Today’s projection puts TCU among the first four teams out. The Frogs are called “on the fence” by CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Frogs out of his projection.

“We know it’s a very important game,” freshman guard Desmond Bane said of the 1 p.m. tip against the Mountaineers at Schollmaier Arena. “A lot’s at stake. We’re trying to get to the national tournament. We know we’ve got to win a few games down the stretch, given how we’ve performed over the last few.”

TCU played even with No. 3 Kansas in the first half, trailing by one point at halftime and leading in rebounds by eight. In the second half, Kansas outscored the Frogs by 18 points and won the rebounding battle by 13.

“We went into halftime, and we said we’re up eight in rebounds, and we had to win by 10 to win the game,” Dixon said. “And we certainly didn’t. Rebounding reflects a lot of things, in our minds — shot selection and the shots you’re making them take. That was really the tell-tale point, I thought, going into the game, and the numbers indicated it as well.”

Despite what is now a four-game losing streak, the Frogs still have a chance at a 20-win season, which they last accomplished in 2004-05. But it would require winning out.

Anticipating a chance to build the crowd, TCU moved the start of Saturday’s baseball game to 4 p.m. to give fans a chance to make both games.

“We’re going to be hungry, for sure,” Bane said. “We know what’s at stake. We know what’s on the line. We’re going to come out here, and we’re going to lay it all out here on the floor.”

This story was originally published February 23, 2017 at 1:46 PM with the headline "TCU, Dixon on West Virginia matchup: ‘Biggest game of the year’."