GAME PREVIEW // 12/12 K-State Meets 22/23 TCU in Big 12 Quarters Thursday

By K-State Athletics Release March 8, 2023

GAME 32

12/12 [3-seed] KANSAS STATE (23-8, 11-7 Big 12) vs. 22/23 [6-seed] TCU (20-11, 9-9 Big 12)

Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship / Quarterfinals #4

Thursday, March 9, 2023 >> 8:30 p.m. CT >> T-Mobile Center (19,135) >> Kansas City, Mo.

TELEVISION

ESPN or ESPN2 / WatchESPN (link here)

  • Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play)
  • Chris Spatola (analyst)
  • Kris Budden (sideline)
  • Joe McCoy (producer)

RADIO

K-State Sports Network

Flagships: // KMAN 1350 & WIBW 580

Satellite Radio: Sirius XM 137 or 199

Online: Varsity Network [free] / www.kstatesports.com/watch [free]

  • Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play)
  • Stan Weber (analyst)

LIVE STATS

www.kstatesports.com

big12.statbroadcast.com

 

TICKETS

Sold Out

 

COACHES

K-State: Jerome Tang [Charter Oak State College ‘07]

Record at K-State: 23-8/1st Year

Career Record: 25-8/1st Year+

  1. TCU: 1-1 [1-1 at K-State]

TCU: Jamie Dixon [TCU ‘87]

Record at TCU: 137-95/7th Year

Career Record: 465-218/21st Year

  1. K-State: 8-11 [7-11 at TCU]

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY

All-Time Championship Record: 37-43

Big 12 Championship Record: 17-25

Quarterfinals Record [last]: 7-11 [2019]

In Kansas City/At T-Mobile Center: 36-38/10-13

As No. 3 seed [years]: 1-2 [1989, 2008]

  1. No. 6 seed [years]: 2-2 [1981, 1989, 2003, 2008]

 

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 21-11

Big 12 Era: K-State leads 18-9

In Kansas City: K-State leads 4-1

At T-Mobile Center: K-State leads 4-1

Active Streak: K-State, 1

Tang vs. TCU: 1-1 [1-1 at K-State]

Tang vs. Jamie Dixon: 1-1 [1-1 at home]

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP (Based off the last game)

12/12 Kansas State (23-8, 11-7 Big 12)

G: #1 Markquis Nowell

G: #5 Cam Carter

F: #11 Keyontae Johnson

F: #35 Nae’Qwan Tomlin

F: #3 David N’Guessan

22/23 TCU (20-11, 9-9 Big 12)

G: #1 Mike Miles Jr

G: #10 Damion Baugh

F: #5 Chuck O’Bannon Jr.

F: #2 Emanuel Miller

C: #12 Xavier Cork

 

OPENING TIP

No. 12/12 K-State (23-8, 11-7 Big 12) earned a bye to the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship for the first time since 2019 as the No. 3 seed and will play No. 22/22 TCU (20-11, 9-9 Big 12), which secured the No. 6 seed, at 8:30 p.m., CT on Thursday night at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. K-State is 37-43 all-time at the Big Eight/12 Tournament, including 17-25 in the Big 12 era. The Wildcats are 1-2 all-time as the No. 3 seed in their third appearance (1989, 2008), while they are 2-2 in four meetings (1981, 1989, 2003, 2008) vs. the No. 6 seed. This will be the sixth meeting (2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) with TCU at the Big 12 Championship, including the fifth in the last 6 seasons, with K-State winning each of the last 4 such meetings.

KEY STORYLINES

  • West Virginia shot better 50 percent from the field, including 57.7 percent in the second half, to end No. 11/11 K-State’s 4-game winning streak with an 89-81 victory at home on Senior Day on the final day of the regular season on Saturday. Seniors Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell each scored 24 points to lead the way, as K-State finished the regular season in a tie with No. 10/10 Baylor (22-9, 11-7 Big 12) for third place in the final Big 12 standings with the Wildcats earning the No. 3 seed due to their season sweep of the Bears.
  • K-State has given itself the opportunity for a high seed at next week’s NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats were among 5 in the Big 12 to check into the top-16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament

Selection Committee’s bracket preview on Feb. 18. The team is one of seven (Kansas, Baylor, Texas, Iowa State, Alabama and Purdue) with 9 or more Quad 1 victories this season.

  • K-State earned its 31st 20-win season and first since 2018-19 in the win over No. 19/18 Iowa State Feb. 18. The 23-8 record ties 4 other teams for the fifth-best start by a Wildcat team in the past 50 seasons. Among the 17 wins in the last 24 outings is a 9-game winning streak from Dec. 3, 2022 to Jan. 10, 2023 and a tie for the most AP Top 25 wins (7) in school history.
  • K-State’s 23-8 start under Jerome Tang equals the best by any first-year Division I head coach, tying Missouri’s Dennis Gates (23-8), Xavier’s Sean Miller (23-8) and Duke’s Jon Scheyer (23-8). He is the fifth K-State coach to win 20 games in his first season, joining Lon Kruger [20/1986-87], Bob Huggins [23/2006-07], Frank Martin [21/2007-08] and Bruce Weber [27/2012-13], while his 23 wins tie for the second-most by a first-year coach.
  • K-State was well-represented on the Coaches’ All-Big 12 Teams, which were announced on Sunday. Tang was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Coach of the Year, while Johnson was selected unanimously as the league’s Newcomer of the Year as well as All-Big 12 First Team, along with Nowell. Tang becomes the seventh head coach in school history to earn Coach of the Year honors, including the third in the Big 12 era and the first since 2013. Johnson and Nowell are the 14th Wildcat duo to be selected first team all-conference, including just the second in the Big 12 era (joining Barry Brown Jr. and Dean Wade in 2019), while Johnson is the 13th Wildcat since 1970 to be voted the league’s Newcomer of the Year and the second in the Big 12 era.
  • Seniors Keyontae Johnson (17.8 ppg.) and Markquis Nowell (17.0 ppg.) are one of the most prolific tandems, as they combine to average 34.8 points per game to rank fourth among power conferences. They combined for 8 weekly Big 12 honors, while they were each named finalist for their respective positions awards (Nowell – Bob Cousy and Johnson – Julius Irving).
  • The school’s single season assist leader, Nowell currently ranks third nationally in both assists per game (7.7 apg.) and total assists (238), while he is in the top-20 in 5 other categories (steals, steals/game, free throws, free throw percentage and minutes/game). He ranks first or second in the Big 12 in an astounding 14 categories, including first in 8 categories.

NOTES ON 22/23 TCU

  • No. 22/23 TCU (20-11, 9-9 Big 12) won 3 of its last 5 games, including wins at Texas Tech and at home against Texas, to earn tie for fifth place in the final Big 12 standings. The momentum to end the season came after the return of All-American candidate Mike Miles, Jr., who missed 5 games from Jan. 31-Feb. 15 due to injury.
  • TCU is averaging 75.5 points on 46.2 percent shooting, including 29.6 percent from 3-point range, with 35.7 rebounds, 16.3 assists, 8.3 steals and 4.6 blocks per game, while allowing 68 points on 42.5 percent shooting, including 31.1 percent from 3-point range. The Horned Frogs are connecting on 70.1 percent from the free throw line.
  • TCU still leads the nation in fastbreak points (18.8 ppg.), while ranking in the top-40 in 10 other categories, including 19th in assists/game (16.3), 24th in turnover margin (+3.4), 28th in turnovers forced/game (15.7), 33rd in blocked shots/game (4.6) and 39th in steals/game (8.3).
  • Three players are averaging in double figures, as Miles ranks third in the Big 12 at 17.2 points per game on 50 percent shooting, while seniors Damion Baugh and Emanuel Miller are averaging 13.0 and 12.8 points per game. Miller and sophomore Eddie Lampkin are averaging 6.5 and 5.9 rebounds per game, while Baugh has a team-leading 149 assists.
  • TCU is led by seventh-year head coach Jamie Dixon, who has a 137-95 record with 5 20-win seasons. Overall, he has a 465-218 record in his 21st season as a head coach. He is 8-11 all-time vs. K-State.

SERIES HISTORY

  • K-State holds a 21-11 lead in the all-time series with TCU, including an 18-9 mark in the Big 12 era. The team has split the last 10 meetings.
  • K-State is 4-1 all-time against TCU at the Big 12 Championship, including wins in each of the last 4 meetings, including twice (2018, 2019) in the quarterfinals. The Wildcats earned a 71-50 win in the last such meeting in the first round of the tournament on March 10, 2021.

LAST 10 MEETINGS [5-5]

Date                    Rank     Result   Score                   Location

1/7/2020            —/—     L             57-59                   Manhattan

2/15/2020          —/—     L             57-68                   Fort Worth

3/11/2020          —/—     W          53-49                   Kansas City

1/2/2021            —/—     L             60-67                   Manhattan

2/20/2021          —/—     W          62-54                   Fort Worth

3/10/2021          —/—     W          71-50                   Kansas City

1/12/2022          —/—     L             57-60                   Manhattan

2/5/2022            —/—     W          75-63                   Fort Worth

1/14/2023          11/17    L             68-82                   Fort Worth

2/7/2023            12/17    W          82-61                   Manhattan

LAST MEETING:

12/11 K-STATE 82, 17/19 TCU 61 [Feb. 7, 2023]

  • Five Wildcats scored in double figures, including a game-high 18 points from senior Markquis Nowell, as No. 12/11 K-State snapped a 2-game losing streak with a near wire-to-wire 82-61 victory over No. 19/17 TCU on Feb. 7 before a crowd of 8,667 at Bramlage Coliseum.
  • Nowell also dished out a game-high 7 assists, giving him 187 for the season, which broke the single-season school record of 186 set by Steve Henson in 1987-88. In addition, his 18 points helped him eclipse 1,700 in his college career.
  • The Wildcats had five or more players score in double figures for the fourth time this season and the second time in Big 12 play and the first since Texas on Jan. 3. Nowell was joined in double figures by seniors Keyontae Johnson and Desi Sills, who each scored 14 points, while senior reserve Tykei Greene nearly registered a double-double with season-highs in both points (13) and rebounds (9) to go with 10 points from junior David N’Guessan.

 

LAST MEETING IN BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP:

K-STATE 71, TCU 50 [March 10, 2021]

  • K-State finally got its offense to match its suffocating defense of late, as the Wildcats earned a 71-50 win over TCU in the last meeting between the teams at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships on March 10, 2021.
  • The Wildcats played solid all-around game, connecting on an efficient 48.3 percent from the field, including 56.8 percent from inside the 3-point arc, while holding the Horned Frogs to 37 percent shooting, including 21.1 percent from long range, and forcing 17 turnovers.
  • Nijel Pack (23) and Mike McGuirl (17) combined for 40 points.

LAST TIME OUT: WEST VIRGINIA 89, 11/11 K-STATE 81

  • West Virginia used a big second-half performance to end No. 11/11 K-State’s 4-game winning streak on Saturday afternoon, as the Mountaineers earned the 600th win at the WVU Coliseum with an 89-81 victory over the Wildcats before a sold-out crowd of 14,000 on Senior Day.
  • It was a tale of two halves, as K-State connected on just 38.9 percent (14-of-36) from the field in the second half after hitting on 51.6 percent (16-of-31) in the first half. In contrast, West Virginia (18-13, 7-11 Big 12) hit on 57.7 percent (15-of-26) with 50 points in the second half after shooting 45.5 percent (15-of-33) in the opening half. The Mountaineers finished at 50.8 percent (30-of-59) from the field compared to the Wildcats’ 44.8 percent (30-of-67).
  • K-State led 8-0 to start and built as much as 10-point advantage in the first half before WVU used a 15-3 run to take its first lead at 33-31 with 4:28 before halftime. The Mountaineers scored the final 4 points of the half to take a 39-37 lead into the break then used that momentum to construct as much as a 15-point lead in the second half.
  • It was a fast-paced game, as the teams combined for 43 points off 36 turnovers, including 24 steals, and a combined 50 fast-break points. WVU got the better of K-State in all 3 categories, including a 23-20 edge in points off turnovers, 14-10 on steals and a 30-20 advantage in fast-break points.
  • K-State knocked 12 3-pointers, which was one shy of a season-high, but WVU countered with 13 more points from the free throw line, where it went 22 of 25.
  • Three Wildcats scored in double figures led by 24 points each from seniors Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell. It marked the fifth time this season that both All-America candidates topped the 20-point barrier in the same game, including the fourth time in Big 12 play. They combined to go 17-of-41 from the field, including 10-of-21 from 3-point range.
  • Nowell once again flirted with a triple-double, finishing with game-highs in both assists (8) and steals (6). Sophomore Cam Carter also had double figures with 13 points to go with a season-high 5 assists.
  • Johnson scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half to pace all scorers, while Nowell scored all 24 of his points in the second half, as he knocked down 6 3-pointers. The 24 points tied for the ninth-most by a Wildcat in a second half and were the most since Barry Brown Jr., had 26 points vs. OSU in 2018.
  • K-State played without senior Desi Sills, who did not travel with the team due to a family funeral. A candidate for the Big 12’s Sixth Man Award, Sills had started each of the last 4 games during the winning streak.