Big 12 Basketball: Kansas vs. TCU preview, prediction, TV schedule

"The Kansas Jayhawks  have a chance to clinch at least a share of the Big 12 basketball regular season title for the 13th straight season with a win over TCU on Wednesday night."

TV schedule: Feb. 20, 7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN 2 and Watch ESPN

Arena: Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kansas

No. 3-ranked Kansas (24-3) have been one of the best teams in college basketball this season. The Jayhawks have won four straight games, and are coming off a 67-65 come-from-behind win over the Baylor Bears on Saturday. Kansas is now 4-0 against team’s ranked in the top-5 of the AP poll.

Kansas, who are 12-2 in Big 12 play, enter the game against TCU (17-10) with a three-game lead over second-place Baylor (9-5). With a win over the Horned Frogs, the Jayhawks will tie UCLA’s  record (1960s-1970s) for the most consecutive seasons winning a regular season conference title at 13.

TCU (6-8 Big 12) have lost three in a row and 7 of 10. The Horned Frogs are coming off a 84-71 loss to Iowa State on Saturday, marking their second double-digit loss in the last three games. They are 9-5 in games decided by 10 or more points this season.

Kansas leads the all-time series against TCU 14-1. The Jayhawks earned their ninth straight victory in the series with a 86-60 victory at “The Phog” on Dec. 30.

Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas is an athletic squad who loves to get out in transition. The Jayhawks are an explosive, offensive team who can also grind it out on the defensive end. They use a four-guard lineup, all of whom can get to the rack and shoot from long-range, along with senior forward Landen Lucas.

Wooden Award candidate Frank Mason III leads four Jayhawks who score in double figures with 20.3 points per game. The 5’11” senior point guard had 23 points, on 7-of-13 shooting, and eight assists on Saturday. It marked his fifth 20-point game in the last six contests. The conference’s leading scorer is only player ever to average over 20 points and five assists a game in Big 12 history per ESPN Info and Stats.

Freshman Josh Jackson has been as good as advertised, averaging 16.5 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting over 50 percent from the floor. Jackson was named the Big-12 Conference Newcomer of the Week for the sixth time on Monday. The 6’8″, 19-year-old averaged 16.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in two games.

Juniors Devonte Graham and Svi Mykhailiuk also averaging 13.0 and 10.2 points, respectively. Lucas is a beast inside, producing three double-doubles and averaging 7.7 points along with 8.4 boards.

TCU

Head coach Jaime Dixon has done a fantastic job in his first season at his alma mater. The Horned Frogs already have five more wins then they earned all of last season. The Horned Frogs’ six conference wins in the most in the five years they have been a member of the Big 12.

TCU is a relatively young squad with four of their top six players being underclassmen. The Horned Frogs have some talented guards and 6′-11″ junior Vlad Brodziansky can be a tough check as the Jayhawks found out in their first meeting. The Slovakian forward has scored in double-figures in 12 of his 14 Big 12 games and 19 times overall. He is averaging a team-high 13.8 points, on 58.8 percent shooting, and 5.9 rebounds for the season.

Sophomore guard Alex Robinson tallied 16 points and doled out eight assists on Saturday, snapping a three-game streak of failing to reach double figures. Robinson, who averages 11.0 points, ranks third in the conference with 5.6 assists a game. Junior guard Kenrich Williams averages 10.0 points along with a team-high nine boards a game.

Prediction: Kansas 88, TCU 78

Kansas are a great shooting team, and rank 18th in the nation in scoring at 82.9 points a game. The Jayhawks are 15-2 when scoring at 80 points. They don’t lose at home, posting a 44-1 record over the last three season. Kansas is 5-0 all-time against TCU in Lawrence.

The Jayhawks do give up a lot of points (72.1), but they  are second in the conference in defense field goal percentage (41.4). They also a good rebounding team with Lucas leading the way with 10.0 boards during conference play. Lucas collected his first double-double of the season (15 points, 17 rebounds) the last time the teams met.

There are causes for concern for the Jayhawks. Kansas has gone through periods of lackluster play this season. Both of their last two wins have been of the comeback variety. And their last seven games have been decided by six or less points, where they are 6-1.

Kansas are not a deep team so they struggle when Jackson and Mason are out of the game. The Jayhawks commit turnovers on more than one quarter of its possessions without when Mason is not on the floor according to Hooplens.com.  They also average just 0.96 points per possession when Mason is resting. Foul trouble has been a major problem for Jackson, who has committed four fouls on nine occasions this season.

A win by TCU would aid the Horned Frogs’ fading hope for a NCAA Tournament bid.  The last time the Horned Frogs were in the “Big Dance” was 1998. The Frogs are 0-4 against ranked teams this  season, and 3-6 in true road games.

TCU are a good shooting team, knocking down over 50 percent of their shots for the 10th time in the loss to Iowa State. The Frogs are ranked 96th in the nation in scoring defense, although they are allowing opponents to shoot over 44 percent from the field — including more than 46 percent in conference play.

The keys for the Horned Frogs pulling off an upset will be to protect the ball and knock down long distance shots on a consistence basis. TCU will also need to get Brodziansky involved early. Brodziansky had a season-high 28 points, on 9-of-19 shooting, and nine rebounds in the first meeting.  He has 41 points along with 21 caroms in his three career games against the Jayhawks.

TCU are not a good three-point shooting team, ranking ninth in the conference at 34.5 percent. However, the Horned Frogs have made at least 10 triples four times this season. Sophomore forward J.D. Miller has made a three-pointer in eight straight games — totaling 17 trifectas during that stretch. Kansas are one of the worst teams in the conference guarding the three-point line.

Next: Updated Bracketology

The Jayhawks will move a step closer to clinching the Big 12 title outright after Wednesday’s game, as they have too much fire power for TCU.