College Basketball Game of the Week: No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 14 TCU
College basketball mayhem is very much active across the country, and with two short months to go until tournament season, there hasn’t been a shortage of shocking endings from exciting matchups.
We got a taste of March Madness earlier this week as two Big 12 rivals saw each other on the court for the first time this season.
The Kansas Jayhawks suffered a minor setback, surrendering just their second loss of the season in an 83-82 overtime thriller at Bramlage Coliseum.
It came at the hands of an inner state rival — the No. 13 Kansas State Wildcats, ending the Jayhawks’ 10-game winning streak.
The Wildcats fed off a 24-point performance from senior Keyontae Johnson as the 6-foot-6, 230-pound forward built on his impressive season.
Johnson’s success has played a huge role in Kansas State’s 16-2 record, as he’s averaging 18.7 points per game while also grabbing just over 7 rebounds a game.
Even a 38-point performance from junior forward Jalen Wilson wasn’t enough to take down the Wildcats on the road, but taking a look at the upcoming schedule, Kansas will need a more team-balanced attack.
This Saturday afternoon, the Jayhawks will host No. 14 TCU at Allen Fieldhouse for what has the makings to be another nail-biter.
TCU is coming off a 74-65 defeat at West Virginia on Wednesday evening, but managed to take down Kansas State at home last Saturday in a notable 82-68 decision.
TCU has dropped three of its last four matchups with two of them coming against ranked opponents — No. 12 Iowa State and No. 7 Texas.
Junior guard Mike Miles Jr. leads all of TCU’s offense in scoring, averaging 19.1 points per game which is second in the Big 12 behind Jalen Wilson with 20.8.
Behind Miles Jr. on TCU is senior forward Emanuel Miller averaging 14.6 points per game.
The Miles-Miller duo serves as a one-two punch for the Horned Frogs, but these two will need to step up against a formidable Kansas squad.
Kansas will also need to get better contributions from its bench, as Zach Clemence, Zuby Ejiofor, Bobby Pettiford Jr., and Joseph Yesufu all combined for just eight points in the one-point loss to Kansas State.
What comes off as more shocking is that Kansas State also held senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. to zero points. Zero.
A lot of factors play into that defeat, and with the rankings shaking up heavily this season, the Jayhawks can’t afford another speed bump in the season, at least for a while.
Eddie Lampkin Jr. and Emanuel Miller are the only two players from TCU that are in the top-10 in rebounds per game in the Big 12, with Lampkin recording 7 and Miller averaging 6.1, respectively.
Meanwhile, Kansas also has two players in the top-10 in rebounds with Wilson averaging a second-best 8.9 and McCullar Jr. averaging a fourth-best 7.2 in the conference.
Defensive boards are going to play dividends in a matchup like this, and the same could be said about turnovers. The team who controls both facets will control the outcome — but tough schedules lie ahead.
After its matchup against TCU, Kansas hits the road to travel to No. 21 Baylor, then again at Kentucky, before returning home to host a rematch against Kansas State.
Tip-off for TCU-Kansas is set for Saturday at 1:00 p.m. on CBS.
Connor Fenix is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email cjf5726@psu.edu.
