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No. 9 seed TCU (20-12) will make its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance when it faces No. 8 seed Seton Hall (21-10) on Friday at 8:57 p.m. CT at Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl in San Diego, Calif. The game will air on truTV. It is TCU’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018. TCU is trying for its first NCAA Tournament win since 1987, when head coach Jamie Dixon was a senior at TCU.

It will be TCU’s second NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four seasons that there has been a postseason in college basketball. TCU had been to one NCAA Tournament in the 30 years prior to Dixon’s arrival in 2016-17. TCU is 5-8 in the NCAA Tournament. Its best finish came in 1968 when the Frogs made it to the finals of the Midwest Regional.

TCU is 8-8 in Quadrant 1 games this season. The eight wins a program record and is tied for the eighth most nationally. TCU has a program-best five AP Top 25 wins this season.

Damion Baugh (honorable mention), Mike Miles Jr. (second team) and Emanuel Miller (honorable mention) were named All-Big 12. Miles is the only player that ranks in the top six in the Big 12 in scoring (fifth, 15.0) and assists (sixth, 3.9). Baugh’s 10.7 points per game ranks second on the team. He is fourth in the Big 12 with 4.4 assists per game. Miller is averaging 10.3 points per game and a team-leading 6.3 rebounds per game, which ranks ninth in the Big 12.

Eddie Lampkin Jr. has been one of the most improved players in the Big 12 and is averaging 6.5 points and 6.0 rebounds overall. His 2.9 offensive rebounds per game overall ranks second in the Big 12. Lampkin’s 59.9 percent shooting from the field currently ranks as the seventh-best in a season at TCU.

Francisco Farabello is shooting a team-best 39.4 percent from 3-point range. He’s made at least one 3-pointer in 13 of his last 15 games. Micah Peavy’s defensive points per possession is .6, which ranks in the top percentile nationally.

Last game: Making its second-ever appearance in the semifinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship, TCU fell to top-seeded Kansas, 75-62 on March 11.

It is the first meeting between TCU and Seton Hall. Dixon faced Seton Hall 11 times as the head coach at Pittsburgh and is 7-4 against the Pirates. Dixon’s .658 Big EAST win percentage ranks as the second-best all-time mark in league play. Jay Wright is first (.665).

This Seton Hall squad is a large team coached by Kevin Willard. This team has no one on the roster shorter than 6'2'. They have a couple of 7-footers that look to bang down low, and change the game. As a team, Seton Hall puts up 72.9 points per game. Together on defense, they allow their opponents to score an average of 66 points. In the Big 12, the defensive scoring average was lower than that. So, TCU should have field day scoring. On rebounding, Seton Hall pulls down 38.9 rebounds a game. TCU should dominate this area. As Dixon stated the Horned frogs have to stick to their identity. That is through defense and rebounding. 

The key players that TCU needs to watch for from Seton Hall are Jared Rhoden who leads his team with 15.9 points per game. Then you have Myles Cale who averages 9.8 points per game, and Kadary Richmond who averages 9.0 points per game. TCU is going to have to guard the perimeter pretty tough because  Seton Hall has a team full of guys that capable of knocking down shots from deep as a team they average 35 percent shooting from 3-point land. Jamir Harris leads his team in 3-pointers made as he averages five 3-pointers made per game.

Next up: The winner will play the winner of No. 1 Arizona and either No. 16 Bryant or No. 16 Wright State on Sunday.


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