Kansas Jayhawks at TCU Horned Frogs: Preview & Players to Watch

It's the first of two matchups for the Kansas Jayhawks against the TCU Horned Frogs. Here's a quick preview of the opponent before tonight's game.

Contents

1. Overview
2. Players to Watch
3. Prediction

Some Big 12 teams have one game left. Kansas has three. Thanks to the postponement of a New Year's Day matchup been KU and TCU, the two teams will not only play in Fort Worth tonight, but will go back and play in Lawrence Thursday. 

Overview

As of February 19th, TCU was on a three game losing streak and had dropped to 5-7 in league play. Now, after bouncing back to win two of their last three, they sit at 5th in the Big 12, 7-8, coming off a big win over Texas Tech that helped solidify their standing as a Tournament team. Bracket Matrix currently shows them as a 9 seed, so though this is TCU, not known for its basketball prowess, this is a team to take seriously. 

TCU is yet another Big 12 team that plays strong defense. At this point, that can pretty much be assumed of teams in this league. KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency puts them 27th nationally, with their offensive a bit less impressive at 89th. TCU has had big problems turning the ball over, but that's consistently been an area Kansas finds itself unable to exploit in vulnerable teams. TCU also doesn't get to the foul line regularly, and they're a very poor three point shooting team. They have been decent at making their twos (51.9% in Big 12 play), and they've been the best offensive rebounding team in the conference.

On the defensive end, TCU is also the top rebounding team in the Big 12, meaning this is a game where David McCormack could be very important. Fortunately for Kansas, TCU won't force many turnovers, an area where Kansas has struggled badly at times. Their FG% defense is pretty much middle of the pack, as is their defensive free throw rate. In a league full of great defensive teams, TCU is sitting at a respectable 6th in defensive efficiency, allowing just under a point per possession against Big 12 opponents. 

Players to Watch

Mike Miles, 6'2 sophomore point guard

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Miles struggles with efficiency, and has an ORtg under 100 (not ideal for your point guard), but nonetheless can put up some numbers and have big games, coming off a 26 point, 5 steal performance against Tech. He's just a 29% three point shooter but isn't afraid to let it fly, putting up 116 attempts this year. He also has a top 10 assist rate in the Big 12, and is one of the team's few threats to generate turnovers.

Chuck O'Bannon, 6'6 senior wing

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O'Bannon is a decent outside threat, hitting 34.6% of 107 tries. He's also just over 50% from inside the arc. He's a respectable shot blocker, doesn't turn the ball over much, and though he's 4th on the team in scoring, his efficiency makes him an underrated weapon with the ability to have some strong games. 

Francisco Farabello, 6'3 junior guard

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I might be reaching a bit with this one, since he doesn't start and averages just 5 points per game. But if you're looking for a candidate to be the random guy off the bench who lights up the Jayhawks from three, it's likely him. Farabello is hitting a team-high 37% from outside this year, he gets occasional assists, and doesn't turn the ball over. He's not the likeliest guy on the team to have a huge game, but you can't forget about him on the perimeter. 

Prediction

KU had just a two day break between Saturday's disappointing Baylor loss, and is game two of a stretch of four games in eight days. However, most of that is future problems, as Bill Self tends to coach with the game at hand at the forefront of his mind. That means if this one is in any doubt, I don't expect to see any key players playing fewer minutes just for the sake of games later this week. I think at home TCU can slow things down and keep it fairly close, but I don't see the firepower on this team to pull off the upset and hand KU a second straight loss. 

Kansas 78, TCU 70