The TCU Horned Frogs know they need to keep winning if they have any hope of making it to the NCAA Tournament. TCU only has one Quad 1 victory on the season, on the road against Iowa State, and the team needs to make up for that with as many wins as possible. Fortunately, the Horned Frogs have been able to take care of business against teams outside of Quad 1, with a sterling 16-0 record against lesser teams. They will get a chance to make it 17-0 when they go on the road to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Monday night.
This Big 12 showdown will take place on Monday, February 18, 2019. Tip-off will be at 9 p.m. ET from Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
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Odds Analysis
It’s been a rough year for Oklahoma State. The Cowboys waived goodbye to the postseason last month, and they are ready for the year to end. They are 9-15 on the year and 2-9 in conference, and their last Big 12 win came over a month ago. In their last game, they were hammered by 28 points at home by Texas Tech.
TCU missed out on a nice chance to score a big win last week. Although the Horned Frogs were able to go into Ames and beat the Cyclones, they were unable to beat Kansas at home despite taking the Jayhawks to overtime. They are 17-7 overall, but just 5-6 in conference, so a win here could take them over .500 if they also beat Oklahoma on Saturday.
These teams met less than two weeks ago. Oklahoma State nearly knocked off TCU in Fort Worth, erasing an 11-point halftime deficit to tie the game with five seconds to play. However, JD Miller raced up the court and hit a game winning runner with no time left to salvage a win for the Horned Frogs.
Key Injuries
The problems for Oklahoma State are largely due to having a diminished roster. Mike Boynton decided to kick Michael Weathers, Maurice Calloo, and Kentrevious Jones off the team after a vandalism incident on New Year’s Day, and that seriously diminished their depth. Mike Cunningham decided to transfer that same month, and then to make matters worse, Trey Reeves was declared out for the season with a foot injury. That has led to Boynton actively recruiting walk-ons, and that’s never good halfway through the year.
TCU’s Yuat Alok decided to transfer back in mid-Janaury and less than a week later, Jaylen Fisher went down with a season-ending knee injury. Fisher’s injury has hurt, as he was one of the top guards on the team.
Matchup to Watch
Oklahoma State is led by its guards. Six of the Cowboys’ seven leading scorers are guards, but they have not been particularly efficient when it comes to putting the ball in the cup. They haven’t been bad from deep, yet they aren’t able to get the easy baskets that would help them compete against the best teams in the Big 12.
It’s unlikely they get those baskets against TCU. The Horned Frogs have been strong in defense, and they have the depth that the Cowboys lack. That will really hurt Oklahoma State as both teams will be playing this game on one day’s rest.
Prediction
We won’t see a repeat of what happened between these teams less than two weeks ago. Oklahoma State is going to wear down in the second half, and TCU will take advantage. These teams might play the first half pretty evenly, but the Horned Frogs will be able to have the upper hand after halftime with their tough, physical defense. I look for TCU to get an easy cover.
CBB Betting Odds: TCU 78, Oklahoma State 69
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