Big 12 Basketball Tournament: Key 2018-19 storylines for Kansas State vs. TCU
Three keys to the game
Alex Robinson’s play
TCU senior guard Alex Robinson did a great job of balancing his shooting and distributing for the Horned Frogs against Oklahoma State. That must continue against the Wildcats.
He’ll be guarded by Brown, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Robinson has to stay composed, while making an impact against one of the best defensive players in the country.
If Robinson can perform with the same type of urgency down the stretch that he has throughout the season, TCU should be looking very good to advance to the quarterfinals.
Robinson has been making big plays in big games throughout his TCU career, and he surely won’t want to leave any doubt that his career will end in the NCAA tournament.
The offense of Kansas State players other than Barry Brown
With Wade out, Kansas State will need other players to step up. That hasn’t been an issue this season, but it must be even more of an impact-maker on Thursday.
Two players in particular, Cartier Diarra and Xavier Sneed, will need to put together big games. Both Sneed and Diarra have made big strides in expanded roles this season, but those roles will be even bigger with Wade out.
If Kansas State’s supporting players can take the pressure off of Brown, then the Wildcats should have no problem shooting TCU out of the building. If not, then Brown will need to be almost perfect, which is no easy task against a great TCU defense.
The final five minutes
Both Kansas State and TCU have had their issues closing out games. With the stakes even higher on Thursday, they’ll need to be perfect in closing out.
TCU’s struggles late in the game need to explanation. The Horned Frogs blew a 21-point lead in the second half of Wednesday’s game. That can’t happen on Thursday. Kansas State will take advantage of that more than Oklahoma State did.
On Kansas State’s side, they cannot allow TCU’s high-octane shooters, such as Bane or Kouat Noi, to get going late in the game. TCU has the three point shooting to come back from big deficits, but Kansas State must do an excellent job of closing out in order to advance to the semifinals.