TCU will look for a season sweep and its first-ever road win at West Virginia when the Big 12 Conference teams meet Saturday to close the regular season in Morgantown, W.Va.
TCU (19-10, 8-9 Big 12) is coming off a 72-68 loss at No. 6 Kansas on Thursday — just 48 hours after the host Horned Frogs had beaten the Jayhawks in Fort Worth, Texas.
The last-place Mountaineers (14-16, 3-14) were dealt a 72-59 setback at Oklahoma on Tuesday that extended their losing streak to seven games, which includes a 77-67 loss at TCU on Feb. 21.
The Horned Frogs trailed Kansas 71-68 with 9.4 seconds left and had a chance to tie the game. But Mike Miles’ layup was blocked by Dajuan Harris, with Jalen Wilson grabbing the loose ball, getting fouled and securing the win with a free throw.
“We fought extremely hard. The coaches fought for us as well,” TCU forward Emanuel Miller said. “We left it all on the court. Kansas is a great team.”
TCU, which is 0-9 all-time at West Virginia dating to its first trip in 2013, is looking to bolster its case for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament in case it falls short in next week’s Big 12 tournament.
The Horned Frogs are led by Miles’ 15.0 points and 4.1 assists per game. Miller averages a team-high 6.3 rebounds to go along with 10.8 points per game.
West Virginia counters with the duo of Taz Sherman, who averages a team-high 18.1 points and 2.4 assists per game, and Sean McNeil, who averages 12.3 points per game.
In the teams’ last meeting, Miller posted a team-high 18 points and all five TCU starters scored in double figures. Miles had 15 points.
West Virginia got 23 points from Sherman.
Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins was upset with his team after allowing Oklahoma to shoot 52.9 percent from the field Tuesday. The Sooners outscored West Virginia 36-22 in the paint and scored 23 points off 15 turnovers.
“I’m embarrassed because I wear this WVU insignia with pride. All I can tell you is that I will fix it. We’ve got some guys that just don’t listen, don’t care,” Huggins said. “We didn’t stay attached and we didn’t stay on guys with the ball. It’s frustrating when we have guys that don’t listen. It’s frustrating when what happens to them is more important than what happens to the team.”
–Field Level Media
