PREVIEW: West Virginia Meets TCU on Senior Day

Seven Mountaineers will play their final home game as West Virginia (14-16, 3-14) hosts the TCU Horned Frogs (19-10, 8-9) on Saturday at 2:00 pm and streaming on ESPN+.

The Horned Frogs guaranteed their NCAA Tourney bid winning three of the last five games. TCU’s schedule is backloaded due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the program earlier in conference play, with a day separating the matchups versus Kansas and upsetting the No. 6 Jayhawks 74-64 on Tuesday before a four-point loss on the return trip to Lawrence on Thursday. Additionally, the Horned Frogs notched a win over then sixth-ranked Texas Tech last Saturday.

TCU won the first meeting in Ft. Worth 77-67. West Virginia trailed by as many as 11 in the first half before senior guard Taz Sherman ripped off eight consecutive points to get within one before the break. The Horned Frogs steadily built a 13-point lead in the second half, dominating the glass 24-11 and getting to the rim for the comfortable 10-point win. All five TCU starters hit double figures, including Western Carolina transfer, Xavier Cork, making his first start at TCU and registered a season-high 10 points and three rebounds. Since then, he came close to hitting the mark with 8 points in five rebounds in the win over Kansas.

Mike Miles leads TCU in scoring at 15.0 points per game and hit his average against the Mountaineers. The sophomore guard went for 26 points against Texas Tech, shooting 10-15 from the field before going for 19 points Tuesday night versus Kansas but was 2-12 for five points at Kansas.

Forward Emmanuel Miller has hit his season-high 18 points three times this season, twice within the last five games (WVU, @Kansas). The junior averages a team-leading 6.3 rebounds per game and is second in scoring at 10.8 ppg.

West Virginia comes into the game riding a seven-game losing streak, shooting 39.9% from the field, as well as 34.9% from three-point range. However, the Mountaineers shot well above their averages in two out of the last three games, hitting 46.2% at Iowa State and 50% at Texas but miscues late against the Cyclones and an -11 rebounding margin versus the Longhorns could not make up the difference.

Senior guard Taz Sherman is second in the Big 12 Conference in scoring, averaging 18.1 ppg, including a game-high 23 points against TCU, while senior guard Sean McNeil averages 12.3 ppg, hitting a team-best 37.9% from behind the arc.

West Virginia is 16-4 all-time versus TCU, including 9-0 inside the WVU Coliseum.

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