TCU (12-11, 5-7) return to action on Wednesday night at Schollmaier Arena, hosting the Cowboys of Oklahoma State (12-11, 4-8) at 6 p.m. The Horned Frogs are back home after a bried, one-game road trip to Iowa State, where they fell 82-52 at the hands of the Cyclones.
There are no guaranteed wins when you play in the Big 12, but playing Oklahoma State on your home court is one of the best opportunities for a victory that TCU has had since conference play started. The Cowboys got off to a rough start to their season, losing neutral site games to Florida Atlantic, Nevada and Oklahoma, and then lost four of their first five conference games. They are not a great team by any metric and their winless road record in Big 12 play works in TCU’s favor, but Oklahoma State has improved its play over the last week or so.
After losing three straight games to Arizona, Texas Tech and Kansas State in late January, the Cowboys picked up wins over Utah and Arizona State in two of their three most recent games. Against the Sun Devils, Oklahoma State scored 86 points, its highest output in conference play so far. The Cowboys had six players score in double digits and were led by sophomore guard Jamyron Keller who contributed a team-high 14 points.
Despite the recent success, Oklahoma State’s offense is not one that TCU should worry too much about. It ranks 141st in offensive efficiency according to KenPom.com, the third worst in the Big 12 in front of only TCU and Colorado. Sixth man Marchelus Avery leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.3 points per game and Abou Ousmane is close behind him with 11.8 points per game. Former five star recruit Bryce Thompson is third on the team in scoring, averaging 11.5 points per contest. Thompson, who began his year at Kansas, scored 20 points in the team’s win over Utah.
TCU’s defense matches up pretty well with Oklahoma State and it should have little problem slowing down the Cowboys’ offense. The Horned Frogs’ defense has been the team’s strength by a long shot so the matchup up against a typically underwhelming Oklahoma State offense should prove to be relatively straight forward.
The offensive side of the ball is where the Horned Frogs must excel. As previously mentioned, TCU is one of the two teams in the conference that has a worse offense than Oklahoma State. The unit scored just 58 points in a blowout loss to Iowa State on Saturday. Oklahoma State’s defense is nowhere near as talented as Iowa State’s, but the Cyclones provided the Cowboys with a blue print. The Horned Frogs had zero players finish in double digits.
Noah Reynolds, TCU’s leading scorer this season, scored just seven points and only took seven shots against the Cyclones. Simply put, the Horned Frogs offense is even worse than it is on paper when Reynolds isn’t aggressive. Vasean Allette had no problem putting up shots against Iowa State, but he was inefficient, only scoring nine points on 12 shots. Allette’s effieciency will be another crucial factor in Wednesday night’s game.
Finally, TCU must make free throws if it wants to beat Oklahoma State. The matchup between these two groups even, meaning a close game is likely in the cards. The Horned Frogs have struggled all year with free throws, and that has hurt them down the stretch. A repeat of the team’s 20/23 free throw outing in the win over West Virginia would be ideal.
How to Watch, Listen and Stream: Colorado vs. TCU
Tipoff – 6 p.m. CT, Wednesday, February 12
Television – CBSSN
Radio – : Talk Radio 1190 AM KFXR
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