TCU and West Virginia experienced weekend disappointments by failing to pull off upsets of Top 10 opponents.
One of those teams should snatch a nice consolation prize on Monday night when they meet in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Horned Frogs (16-8, 5-7 Big 12) and Mountaineers (14-12, 3-10) are both trying to shed three-game losing streaks. West Virginia, however, has lost 10 of its last 11 contests.
TCU dropped a 72-62 decision at No. 7 Baylor on Saturday, with Texas Tech transfer Micah Peavy providing a career-best 16 points for the Horned Frogs.
“It’s frustrating because I know how much potential as a team we have,” TCU forward Emanuel Miller said.
West Virginia was on the wrong side of a 71-58 defeat Saturday night at home to No. 6 Kansas.
“The good thing is we’ve got five more games and they’re winnable,” Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins said. “So we’ve got to stop worrying about this one and get ready.”
Huggins has presented this as a challenge. By next Saturday, West Virginia will have played four games in eight days.
“Not going to be easy, but I think it gives guys opportunities to show whether they can do it,” Huggins said.
Monday’s game originally was scheduled for Jan. 3, when COVID-19 issues within the TCU program caused the matchup to be rescheduled. The teams will meet again March 5 to end the regular season.
It shapes up as a tough stretch for TCU as well. Beginning with the visit to Baylor, the Horned Frogs had seven games to squeeze in before the end of the regular season — with five of those vs. Top 25 opposition.
It might not help TCU that center Eddie Lampkin Jr. played sparingly Saturday after suffering a knee injury in the first half. Lampkin, who has started in all except one game, is second on the team with an average of 6.0 rebounds per game.
“Eddie seems to be OK,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “We kind of erred on the side of caution.”
West Virginia has had trouble generating consistent offense. The Mountaineers have failed to reach the 60-point mark in five Big 12 outings.
Much depends on how much production Sean McNeil and Taz Sherman can generate.
“The way teams guard me and Taz now, we probably take some bad shots,” McNeil said. “But we’re kind of forced to take some bad shots.”
TCU has held five Big 12 foes to less than 60 points, but that has happened just once across its last eight games.
–Field Level Media
