After finishing as the No. 4 seed in the Big 12, the Kansas State men’s basketball team will meet the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs in Kansas City, Missouri, during the Big 12 Tournament. The game tips off on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.
The last two games these teams played against each other were hard-fought and close.
When TCU came up to Bramlage back in January, K-State pulled ahead and won 73-68. K-State was able to contain the Horned Frogs rather well, as TCU’s leading scorer of that game, Vlad Brodziansky, was only able to get 15 points. TCU also only got to get 28 points in the paint and 10 off of turnovers.
K-State’s junior Dean Wade was able to get 20 points during the game, helping K-State get to a total of 32 points in the paint and 14 off of turnovers.
The second time the Wildcats met TCU was back in February down in Fort Worth, Texas. After a hard matchup, K-State ultimately fell to TCU 59-66. This matchup wasn’t the best for the Wildcats, as they only shot 4-9 from the three-point line and 25-53 from the field. The game was only tied once, but the lead changed five times.
As the third matchup of the season gets closer, it becomes more likely this will be yet another close game. Head coach Bruce Weber is 9-4 against TCU during his career and 0-1 against the team at neutral sites.
K-State has gone up against TCU only once in another Big 12 Tournament. Back in 2015, K-State and TCU met in the first round as the No. 9 and No. 8 seeds. TCU ended up pulling ahead to result in a heartbreaking Wildcat loss of 67-65.
The Wildcats have lost to the Horned Frogs in all three postseason matchups during their history: in the 1968 NCAA Tournament, the 1999 NIT Tournament and the 2011 Big 12 Championship.
K-State ended this season winning four of its last six games of the season, ending on a high note, beating Baylor 77-67 at home. K-State finished 10-8 in the Big 12 as TCU finished 9-9 in the Big 12 and is the No. 5 seed.
The winner of Thursday’s game will advance to the semifinals on Friday in game seven. Before game seven is determined, the winner of the first round matchup of No. 8 Oklahoma State and No. 9 Oklahoma will take on No. 1 Kansas on Thursday. The winner of that matchup will then take on the K-State vs. TCU winner.
The game is set to tip off at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. It will be televised on ESPN2.
