Sloppy No. 17 TCU blown out 82-61 at No. 12 Kansas State

No. 12 Kansas State 82, No. 17 TCU 61

No. 17 TCU was blown out 82-61 on the road at No. 12 Kansas State on Tuesday night, its largest loss in conference play this season by a wide margin. The Horned Frogs struggled all night offensively, digging themselves a hole with sloppy passing and an inability to hit shots from deep. Kansas State earned revenge for an 82-68 beating at the hands of the Horned Frogs back on Jan. 14.  

Both TCU and Kansas State entered Tuesday night’s rematch off of tough losses on Saturday, each hoping to stay in the upper tier of the Big 12 as the conference schedule heads into the home stretch. For TCU, Tuesday night marked the return of center Eddie Lampkin Jr. from injury while guard Mike Miles Jr. remained unavailable for a third consecutive game. Lampkin finished the night with no points, and only attempted one shot. 

Kansas State, which blew a 14-point lead Saturday versus Texas, scored the game’s first five points while holding TCU scoreless through the game’s first two and a half minutes. The Frogs wasted no time responding once they broke the seal, scoring the game’s next six for a lead at the first half under-16 media timeout. 

The Wildcats built momentum as TCU struggled to shoot the basketball early on. The Horned Frogs started the night making just 1 of 6 from behind the 3-point arc, and Kansas State built an 18-11 lead behind 12 combined points from Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson. TCU went more than three minutes without scoring midway through the first half. 

As the first half wore on, the crowd at Bramlage Coliseum was ready to explode as the Wildcats seemed on the brink of breaking things open – but the Horned Frogs’ defense kept them in it. Kansas State never led by more than seven in the first half, and entered the break ahead 36-30. TCU’s offense was consistently careless, turning the basketball over an unacceptable 13 times before halftime. 

Three of the Horned Frogs’ five starters failed to score in the opening half, while JaKobe Coles and Micah Peavy tied for the team lead in points with seven apiece off the bench. K-State’s Markquis Nowell finished the first half with 10 points, the only player on either team in double figures. 

TCU came out of the locker room with a clear focus on creating transition opportunities, and pulled within two points of the Wildcats after back-to-back layups in the first two minutes of the half. But after two TCU turnovers in the sequence that followed, Kansas State ran its lead to 46-38, its largest of the night – and it would get larger still. 

Two more turnovers by the Horned Frogs and a pair of missed free throws by Damion Baugh set up the Wildcats with easy scoring opportunities, and the lead quickly grew to 15 after a 3-pointer by Desi Sills and a pair of free throws by Keyontae Johnson. With 13 minutes still to play, TCU had already committed 17 turnovers and was approaching its season-high. 

TCU stopped the bleeding and pulled back within nine, but Kansas State did not allow the Frogs any closer over the next seven minutes. It wasn’t until the 4:40 mark that the Horned Frogs began to really threaten the Wildcats again, trimming the deficit to 65-59 after a 6-0 run. 

Unfortunately for TCU, K-State gained momentum right back as the Horned Frogs couldn’t find the bottom of the net. The Wildcats’ 11-0 run extended their lead to a game-high 17, all but putting the game away with two minutes left as Keyontae Johnson egged on the home crowd. 

Markquis Nowell added the dagger with one minute left, a 3-pointer from the Wildcats’ logo to extend the lead to 80-59. Nowell led Kansas State with 18 points, while three other Wildcats (Johnson, Sills, and Tykei Greene) all finished the night with 13 or more. 

The 82-61 loss pushes TCU to just 6-5 in the Big 12 and 17-7 overall as the Frogs anxiously await the eventual return of leading scorer Mike Miles Jr. Damion Baugh led the way for TCU with 14 points on a night the offense never looked comfortable. The Horned Frogs ended the game with 19 turnovers and shot 18.8% on 3-pointers. 

TCU will host No. 14 Baylor on Saturday in Fort Worth.