No. 17 TCU aims to complete season sweep of No. 12 Kansas State
After a slow start doomed TCU in the loss to Oklahoma State, the Horned Frogs will be more focused on coming out engaged against Kansas State on Tuesday.
It’s another ranked Big 12 battle and No. 17 TCU took the first game of the season series with an impressive 82-68 win on Jan. 14. A lot has changed for both teams since that showdown.
The Horned Frogs could still be without Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Mike Miles Jr. (knee) and leading rebounder Eddie Lampkin Jr. (ankle). Both injuries are considered day-to-day with Monday being a pivotal day in determining their status.
Meanwhile No. 12 Kansas State comes into Tuesday’s game reeling with three losses in its last four games. All three losses were in conference play, so the Wildcats will try to right the ship to keep up with Texas (19-4, 8-2) in the Big 12 race.
TCU (17-6, 6-4) and Kansas State (18-5, 6-4) are in a four-way tie for third place behind the Longhorns and Iowa State (16-6, 7-3), so the stakes will be extremely high.
Here’s the keys for TCU, which could be short-handed again:
Pester Nowell
Markquis Nowell is the point guard and conductor of the Kansas State offense. Undersized at 5-foot-8, Nowell plays much bigger with his craftiness and ability to create plays for himself and others. He struggled mightily against TCU before getting hot when the game was already decided.
TCU forced Nowell into six of K-State’s 20 turnovers. The task of keeping him in check will be tougher this time if Miles can’t go, but Damion Baugh is a more than capable defender. In four of the Wildcats’ five lossess Nowell shot 36% or worse, though it should be noted for the season he’s only hitting 40% of his attempts.
He’s a high-usage player that struggles with efficiency at times, if TCU can exploit that it’ll have a chance.
Wing battle
The battle between forwards Emanuel Miller and Keyontae Johnson should be a treat for fans. Miller had one of his best games of the season with 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists while shooting better than 50% from the floor.
Johnson is one of the best individual stories in the sport. Originally at Florida, Johnson collapsed on the court against Florida State in December 2020 and eventually was placed into a medically-induced coma. More than two years later Johnson is the leading scorer and rebounder for a Top-20 team.
Miller won the previous matchup as Johnson had 18 points and nine rebounds, but also seven turnovers. He’ll be eager to have a much better showing and is one of the best scorers in the conference along with Miles and Kansas forward Jalen Wilson. Whichever team’s star forward can score 20 or more points will have a stronger shot at winning.
Surviving without Lampkin
Lampkin had his best game of the season the first time against the Wildcats with 17 points and six rebounds in just 20 minutes of action. He outscored the Kansas State frontcourt by himself, but what happens if he’s not available on Tuesday?
The returns have been trending towards bad in the three games without him. TCU allowed Oklahoma State forward Kalib Boone and Mississippi State’s Tolu Smith to score 25 points or more in the two recent losses. Wildcats forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin could be the X-factor with that in mind.
The 6-10 Tomlin averages 10.4 points per game and 5.8 rebounds. Tomlin was productive in the first meeting and flirted with a double-double. In four of the Wildcats’ losses Tomlin was held to single digits and if TCU bigs Xavier Cork and JaKobe Coles can keep him in check then the Horned Frogs can get out of Manhattan with a win.
