Can TCU possibly get back on track against No. 3 Kansas?
There are not many positives about the TCU men’s basketball team these days.
As coach Jamie Dixon said after Wednesday’s deflating loss at Oklahoma State, “We’re on a run here where we’re not performing at a high level.”
TCU has lost four straight, and six of its last seven.
This is a TCU team that would like to see itself as a three-point threat every night. Hey, the Horned Frogs drained a program-record 18 against Louisiana on Nov. 12. But they’ve made double-digit three-pointers just four times since.
Against Oklahoma State, TCU shot a season-low 21.1% (4-for-19) from long range. Struggles from distance have been a troubling trend of late and TCU, now shooting 34.6%, fallen out of the top 100 in the nation.
Free throws have been another season-long issue for the Frogs and they’ve shot just 50% (54 of 108) from the free-throw in the last five games.
Turnovers have been troublesome, too, with at least 15 in four of their last five games.
And the list goes on.
So it’s probably not the best time to welcome in No. 3 Kansas. Tip off is 11 a.m. Saturday at Schollmaier Arena.
The Jayhawks are the Big 12’s highest-scoring team (75.73 points) and have the second-best defense, allowing just under 61 points per game. They’ve defended the perimeter well, too, limiting teams to just 29.3% from behind the arc.
But maybe this is the game where TCU looks more like the team that started 3-0 in conference play. After all, TCU has won 14 of its last 20 Big 12 home games.
The Frogs had a frustrating 62-61 loss to Texas on Jan. 29 in their last home game, but knocked off a ranked Texas Tech team in its previous home contest on Jan. 21. That Texas Tech victory is the only win TCU has had in the last four weeks.
As Dixon put it after the Oklahoma State game, “We haven’t been very good.”
Briefly
▪ TCU has endured a losing streak of at least five games just once under Dixon. The Frogs lost seven straight to close the regular season during his first season in 2016-17.
▪ TCU senior guard Desmond Bane has 1,610 career points and is closing in on sixth place in program history, 14 points behind Kyan Anderson’s 1,624.
▪ TCU senior Edric Dennis is 10 points away from 1,000 career D-1 points. Dennis had previous stops at Jackson State (2016-17) and at UT-Arlington last season.
▪ KU has won the last four meetings between the schools. The last time TCU won came in the 2017 Big 12 tournament in Kansas City when the Horned Frogs knocked off then-No. 1 Jayhawks, 85-82.
