Men's Basketball: Horned Frogs Look to Stop Skid At #22 Texas Tech

TCU (10-9, 3-5) will make a quick trip west to Lubbock to take on an in-state rival in Texas Tech (15-4, 6-2) on Wednesday night.

The Horned Frogs, in desperate need of a win, have fallen in each of their last two matchups and have lost three of their last four games, including an 85-58 beat down at the hands of UCF. The Red Raiders, on the other hand, are playing as well as anyone in the conference. Grant McClasland's squad will enter Wednesday's game having won four straight and six of its last seven.

TCU has come out on top in four of its last five meetings with Texas Tech, but continuing that good form will not be an easy. The Red Raiders are one of the best teams in the country and, frankly, have a much more talented roster than the Horned Frogs.

All that being said, here is how TCU can overcome the Red Raiders:

Score... A lot.

TCU's defense has been solid so far this season and it has kept the Frogs in games that they had no business being in, but Texas Tech's offense is too high-powered to expect the Horned Frogs' defense to do the same on Wednesday.

The Red Raiders have three players who average over 14 points per game; J.T. Toppin, Chance McMillian and Darrion Williams. Containing those three guys, much less one of them, is a tall order. Texas Tech ranks 11th in offensive efficiency according to KenPom.com and also ranks in the top 20 in both effective field goal percentage and three point percentage.

TCU can't count on its defense to shut down a high-powered Texas Tech offense, so the Horned Frogs' offense will have to step up. TCU's half court offense needs to flow and the team will have to get the ball into the hands of its most consistent scorers.

The Frogs will have to score points to have a chance because the Red Raiders can fill it up.

Do the fundamentals!

If you are a frequent listener of Nick Girimonte and I's Frog Fever podcast, you know that the first two things that I look at in the box score are the rebounding numbers and the free throw numbers.

Rebounding and free throw shooting are two of the most controllable factors in a basketball game. The Horned Frogs have been one of the country's worst free throw shooting teams this season, but when they do make free throws, their games are more competitive. TCU has not had a problem getting to the free throw line, but the execution from the stripe has killed them.

If you don't rebound, you usually don't win. TCU's big rotation that has consisted of Ernest Udeh Jr., David Punch and Malick Diallo have shouldered most of the rebounding load, but it will have to be team effort in order to beat the Red Raiders. Texas Tech ranks 74th in the country in rebounds per game while TCU ranks 171st.

How to Watch, Listen and Stream: TCU vs. UCF

Tipoff - 6 p.m. CT, Wednesday, January 29th

Television - ESPN2

Play-By-Play: Lowell Galingo
Analyst: Jess Settles

Radio - : Talk Radio 1190 AM KFXR

Play-By-Play: Brian Estridge
Analyst: Colin Boddicker
Online: Varsity App, GoFrogs.com
SiriusXM: 383

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