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If unranked TCU wants to earn an at-large NCAA Tournament berth, the Frogs need a few upsets the rest of the way. Starting Wednesday against No. 12 Texas Tech would be a good beginning, but TTU should be a short road favorite on the NCAAB odds. How to Bet Texas Tech at TCU NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Wednesday, 8 PM ET
Where: Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena, Fort Worth
TV: Big 12 Digital Network
Stream: ESPN+
Radio:com
Opening NCAAB Lines: TBA (Texas Tech will be favored)

Last Meeting

These schools split last season. The one in Fort Worth was a 65-54 TCU win when it was unranked and Texas Tech was No. 18. Desmond Bane (now in the NBA) scored 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, with six 3-pointers and also had six rebounds. The Horned Frogs pushed ahead to stay with a 13-2 run to start the second half. Bane had a 3-pointer and layup in the first 74 seconds after halftime, and his one-handed floater off the glass capped that spurt to put them up 40-33 with just over 16 minutes left. Jahmi’us Ramsey had 15 points for Texas Tech, which lost for the first time in its seven meetings as a ranked team against TCU.

Why Bet on Texas Tech? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

Texas Tech (11-4) lost at home to No. 2 Baylor on Saturday 68-60. Texas Tech led 45-44 after Marcus Santos-Silva made a free throw with 7:14 left. The Bears went ahead to stay when Adam Flagler penetrated and made a floater, almost falling down when the shot went in.

“I think we can play with teams like this, I think we can beat teams like this,” Tech coach Chris Beard said. “But we have to play well in the 40-minute game to get that done. … When you get to that point, similar to any kind of NCAA Tournament, March-type game, you’ve got to go win the game. We had a plan in the last eight minutes and we just didn’t execute it. I think you’ve got to give Baylor credit for making it hard on us.”

Texas Tech did not go to the free-throw line in the first half but would finish by going 10-for-14 in the second half. Baylor was 13-for-22 at the line and also hit nine 3-pointers, while the Red Raiders were 6-for-24 on 3s. Tech was limited to 35.5 percent shooting in the game and had 20 turnovers for the first time this season.

Mac McClung scored a season-high 24 points in the game for Texas Tech, while Kevin McCullar recorded the second double-double of his career with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go along with a career-high four blocks in the defeat. Santos-Silva finished the game with 11 rebounds and eight points, while Kyler Edwards had seven points and six rebounds.

Texas Tech finished the game with a 42-37 rebounding advantage, but also committed 20 turnovers after committing only seven in its road win at No. 4 Texas in the previous game. During the three-game winning streak that the Red Raiders brought into Saturday, they committed only nine turnovers in the win over Kansas State, 10 at Iowa State and then secured the first top-5 road victory in program history by maintaining possession in Austin.

On Monday, McClung was named Big 12 Player of the Week. He finished the week averaging 23.0 points with six 3-pointers. McClung matched a season-high by hitting four 3-pointers against Baylor as he finished with his sixth game this season with 20-plus points. He leads the conference at 19.7 points in Big 12 play. For the week, McClung was 12-for-14 at the free-throw line and is now 66-for-81 on the season.

The No. 12 ranking is the highest the program has reached this season and makes it nine straight weeks in the poll. Tech was ranked No. 15 last week.

Why Bet on TCU? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

The Frogs (9-5) lost their third game in a row last Tuesday, routed 82-46 at Oklahoma. Down two key players in Brady Manek and Jalen Hill, the Sooners didn’t slow down, starting strong on offense and suffocating the Frogs throughout the contest. The Horned Frogs ran off the first four points of the evening, but it was all Oklahoma from there, as the Sooners dominated the first 20 minutes of play on their way to a 34-22 first half lead.

The Horned Frogs shot just 35% (18 of 52) from the floor that included 15 missed 3-pointers. They were also cold from the free-throw line, hitting 6 of 17 (21%). It was the lowest scoring output for TCU this season. The Sooners opened the second half on a 24-12 run, stretching their lead to 58-34 with 11 minutes to play.

TCU was led by RJ Nembhard’s 10 points, his 11th consecutive game in double figures. Mike Miles added eight points and hauled in a career-high nine rebounds.

The Horned Frogs moved to 4-27 all-time against the Sooners, including a 0-14 record in Norman. TCU only committed nine personal fouls, tying its season low. TCU was 4-of-19 (21.1 percent) from 3-point range, a season low. The Frogs started with the lineup of Miles, Nembhard, PJ Fuller, Kevin Easley Jr. and Kevin Samuel for the sixth time this season (3-3).

TCU was supposed to play Saturday at home vs. West Virginia but was rescheduled to Feb. 23 due to some COVID issues with WVU.

After a three-game stretch that is among the worst of the Jamie Dixon era, the Horned Frogs get rewarded with four straight games against ranked opponents. They will hope to get Francisco Farabello back, who missed Tuesday night’s game due to a calf injury and has been in and out of the lineup for much of the last month. They also hope to get guys healthy, with Farabello, PJ Fuller, and others banged up, and multiple players dealing with non-COVID illness as well, according to Coach Jamie Dixon.

“We’ve got to regroup, we’ve got to find ourselves, and we’ve got some time to do it,” Dixon said.