TCU Horned Frogs
Big 12 (21-11, 9-9)
TCU has experienced plenty of ups and downs this year. They started the year 12-0, with some decent RPI building wins along the way against talented teams like St. Bonaventure, Belmont and Nevada. But when Big 12 play started, it looked like the Horned Frogs were going to quickly fall out of the NCAA Tournament picture. They won just one of their first five conference games, but managed to be more consistent after that and finished 9-9 in Big 12 action.
Big Wins: 11/25 vs St. Bonaventure (89-79), 12/8 vs Nevada (84-80), 1/22 West Virginia (82-73)
Bad Losses: 12/30 Oklahoma (89-90), 1/10 at Texas (98-99), 1/20 at Kansas State (68-73)
Coach: Jamie Dixon
Why They Can Surprise:
TCU’s offense has taken off this season. They rank in the top 20 in the nation in scoring offense, assists per game, assist-to-turnover ratio, field-goal percentage and three-point field-goal percentage. This group can score in bunches and from anywhere on the floor. Kenrich Williams, Desmond Bane and Kouat Noi are the three-point shooters of the group. Williams connects on 40.9 percent of his three-point attempts, but he does everything as well too. On the year the 6-7 senior is averaging 13.1 points, 4.0 assists, 9.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals. Bane and Noi are the more pure shooters on the team and they shoot very, very efficiently. Vladimir Brodziansky boasts the team’s overall field-goal percentage and is the squad’s top scorer. He will take the occasional three-pointer, but the 6-11 senior does most of his scoring in the paint.
Why They Can Disappoint:
A season ending injury to Jaylen Fisher has hurt the offense though. In his 17 games prior to the injury, the sophomore was averaging 12.3 points and 5.4 assists. Alex Robinson has done a very good job again this year, but he is not as effective of a scorer and is prone to commit a few more turnovers. Without Fisher the assist-to-turnover ratio numbers on the year are a little misleading. However, Robinson is certainly more than capable of facilitating the offense as his 6.1 assists per game show. And with Williams and Bane capable of handling the ball, Coach Jamie Dixon still has some flexibility even without the backcourt depth TCU enjoyed early in the campaign.
Probable Starters:
Alex Robinson, Junior, Guard, 9.8 ppg, 6.1 apg
Desmond Bane, Sophomore, Guard, 12.8 ppg, 2.4 apg, 4.1 rpg
Kenrich Williams, Senior, Guard, 13.1 ppg, 4.0 apg, 9.3 rpg
Kouat Noi, Freshman, Forward, 10.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg
Vladimir Brodziansky, Senior, Forward, 15.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.6 bpg
Key Role Players:
Ahmed Hamdy, Senior, Forward, 6.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg
JD Miller, Junior, Forward, 8.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg
Shawn Olden, Junior, Guard, 2.2 ppg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 83.6 (16th in nation, 2nd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 76.3 (274, 9)
Field-Goal Percentage: 50.0 (9, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 45.9 (274, 10)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.5 (93, 4)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.3 (328, 10)
Free-Throw Percentage: 71.2 (174, 6)
Rebound Margin: 6.5 (19, 1)
Assists Per Game: 18.9 (2, 1)
Turnovers Per Game: 12.6 (144, 6)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2017 NIT First Round win over Fresno State
2017 NIT Second Round win over Iowa
2017 NIT Quarterfinal win over Richmond
2017 NIT Semifinal win over UCF
2017 NIT Championship win over Georgia Tech
2012 CBI First Round win over Milwaukee
2012 CBI Quarterfinal loss to Oregon State
*all team stats through 3/4
