Kansas State Wildcats Face Struggling Texas Christian Horned Frogs
Kansas State Wildcats guard/forward Wesley Iwundu (25) Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports
The Kansas State Wildcats (17-8, 7-5) host the struggling Texas Christian Horned Frogs (9-15, 0-12) Wednesday night in Manhattan. K-State has to be considered huge favorites over TCU in this game with the Horned Frogs still winless in conference play this year and K-State defeating them by 18 in Fort Worth in early January.
Both teams are coming off of a loss, though K-State’s double overtime loss at Baylor following huge wins over Texas and Kansas looks a lot better than TCU’s current 12 game losing streak and 30 point loss to KU on the Horned Frogs’ home court.
Here is all the information you need to catch the game:
Texas Christian Horned Frogs (Big 12 Conference)
Keys to the Game:
1: Kyan Anderson: TCU has one of the better guards in the conference in Anderson, and he is on fire right now. Scoring 20+ points in 5 of their last 7 games, including 25 and 29 points against Kansas and Baylor, respectively, in their two most recent matchups. Kansas State is extremely talented defensively, and must shut down Anderson and force another player on TCU to beat them. Anderson shoots well from long-range, at around 40%, and is also talented at getting inside and drawing fouls. He also averages nearly 3 more assists per game than anyone else on the team. Quite simply, the entire offense runs through this guy and he will be the focal point of TCU’s defensive assignment.
Kansas State Wildcats forward Thomas Gipson (42) Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports
2. Three Pointers: In the last matchup between these two schools, Kansas State hit 7 of their 15 threes, while TCU hit only 2 of 16. Kansas State probably won’t be able to count on the Horned Frogs shooting quite that poorly again, but the Wildcats play outstanding defense on outside shooters and certainly create enough pressure to affect their opponents’ shooting percentage significantly. Preventing TCU from hitting three-pointers should make it extremely difficult for them to stay close in this game. On the other side, K-State has been shooting it well from behind the arc lately, but really cannot begin to rely too much on this, as I’ve said in other previews. Keeping balance in the offense will help shooters get open looks and allow the inside men to keep pressure up on the inside.
3. D.J. Johnson & Nino Williams: This really probably should not be considered a key for this game, but I wanted to give a shout-out to Johnson and Williams. Johnson has come out and really made his presence known in the last few games for Kansas State, especially on the defensive side. I had been on the fence about Johnson for quite a while; he showed short glimpses of ability but never kept it going for too long and really seemed timid. Now he’s making big plays for K-State when they need them most and when Gipson is off the floor, there doesn’t seem to be nearly as big of a drop in talent on the inside for the Wildcats.
Nino Williams has come out of nowhere and taken games over at times for K-State. He’s making his shots, both inside and mid-range, and getting rebound after rebound. He looks fired up and his emergence, as well as Johnson’s, have made the Wildcats’ bench look even deeper. They’ll both be needed for the Kansas State Wildcats to finish strong in the regular season and are making K-State look like a real contender for a run in the NCAA Tournament.
Where: Bramlage Coliseum
Manhattan, KS
When: 8:00 PM CT
Wednesday, February 19th
Television: ESPNU
Radio: K-State Sports Network