Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 8, 2018 >> 11:30 a.m. CT >> Sprint Center (18,972) >> Kansas City, Mo.

COACHES

Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee ’78)

Overall: 434-233/20^th season

At K-State: 121-78/6^th season

1. TCU: 9-4 (0-1 at neutral sites)

TCU: Jamie Dixon (TCU ’87)

Career Record: 373-148/15^th season

Record at TCU: 45-25/2^nd season

1. Kansas State: 3-2 (1-0 at neutral sites)

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (21-10, 10-8 Big 12)

G: #2 Cartier Diarra

G: #5 Barry Brown, Jr.

G: #20 Xavier Sneed

F: #32 Dean Wade

F: #14 Makol Mawien

TCU (21-10, 9-9 Big 12)

G: #25 Alex Robinson

G: #1 Desmond Bane

F: #34 Kenrich Williams

F: #12 Kouat Noi

F: #10 Vlad Brodziansky

SERIES HISTORY

Overall: K-State leads 12-6

Big 12 era: K-State leads 9-4

At Big 12 Championship: TCU leads 1-0

In Kansas City: TCU leads 1-0

In Manhattan: K-State leads 7-2

In Fort Worth: K-State leads 5-2

Active Streak: TCU, 1

Weber vs. TCU: 9-4 (0-1 at neutral sites)

Dixon vs. K-State: 3-2 (1-0 at neutral sites)

Weber vs. Dixon: 2-3 (0-1 at neutral sites)

OPENING TIP

• Kansas State (21-10, 10-8 Big 12) begins postseason play on Thursday morning, as the Wildcats play TCU (21-10, 9-9 Big 12) at 11:30 a.m., CT, in the first quarterfinal game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. The game will air on either ESPN or ESPN2 with Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Fran Fraschilla (analyst) and Holly Rowe (sideline reporter) on the call.
• K-State is 33-39 (.458) all-time in the Big Eight/12 Championship dating back to its inception in 1977, including 13-21 in the Big 12 era. This will mark the ninth time that the Wildcats have been the No. 4 seed, including the fourth time in the Big 12 era, with a 6-8 mark in those previous appearances. The school is 5-5 all-time against the No. 5 seed, losing its last two meetings in 2009 (Texas) and 2011 (Colorado).
• K-State has faced TCU just once at the Big 12 Championship with the Horned Frogs taking a 67-65 victory in a first-round matchup of No. 8 and No. 9 seed on March 11, 2015. Interestingly, the Wildcats have lost all three meetings with the Frogs in the postseason (1968 NCAA Tournament, 1999 NIT and 2011 Big 12 Championship).
• The two teams split their two regular-season meetings in 2018 with each winning on their own home court, as K-State had four players score in double figures in a 73-68 victory on Jan. 20 at Bramlage Coliseum, while TCU used a late 9-0 surge to take a 66-59 victory on Feb. 27 at Schollmaier Arena. Overall, the Wildcats own a 12-6 edge in the all-time series, including 9-4 in the Big 12 era. After losing the first five meetings (2013-15) after joining the Big 12, the Horned Frogs have now split the last eight matchups in the series, including a season split in 2017 and 2018.
• K-State heads into the Big 12 Championship having already clinched a 20-win season for the 29th time in school history, including the 10th in the last 12 seasons and the fourth in six seasons under head coach Bruce Weber. The 10 Big 12 wins were the most in a single season since also winning 10 in 2013-14, while the fourth-place finish was the highest since tying for the Big 12 title in 2012-13. The squad won six Big 12 home games for the first time since posting seven in 2014-15 and clinched a winning home record in league play for the first time since 2014-15.
• K-State finished the regular season by winning four of its last six games, including three consecutive home games, highlighted by Saturday’s 77-67 victory over Baylor that clinched the No. 4 seed at the Big 12 Championship and its second consecutive bye to the quarterfinals. It marked the first season sweep of the Bears since 2013. The Wildcats, which connected on 52 percent from the field, were again led by juniors Dean Wade (25 points) and Barry Brown, Jr. (18 points), who became the seventh duo in school history to each eclipse 500 points in a single season.
• Wade and Brown were both named to the Coaches’ All-Big 12 team on Sunday, as Wade became just the fourth Wildcat to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team, while Brown was selected to the Second Team and the All-Defensive Team.
• Balanced scoring has been a key to K-State’s success under Bruce Weber, as the Wildcats are 51-18 (.739) when four or more players score in double figures, including 10-2 (.833) this season. The team averages 77.9 points on 51 percent shooting with 16.8 assists in games (12 total) where four or more players score in double figures, while they are averaging just 59.1 points on 38.5 percent shooting with 12.0 assists in games (7 total) where only two or less players register double digits.

NOTES ON TCU

• TCU enters Thursday’s game with a 21-10 overall record and a 9-9 mark in Big 12 play after seeing its four-game winning streak come to an end in a 79-75 loss at Texas Tech on Saturday. Facing the Big 12’s top scoring defense, the Horned Frogs connected on just 40.6 percent from the field, including 21.7 percent from 3-point range, as four players scored in double figures led by sophomore Desmond Bane’s 21 points. Seniors Vlad Brodziansky (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Kenrich Williams (11 points, 10 rebounds) each posted double-doubles.
• TCU is one of the nation’s top offensive teams, ranking among the Top 20 in six categories, including second in assists (18.9), ninth in field goal percentage (50.0), 12th in assist/turnover ratio (1.5), 16th in scoring offense (83.6) and 18th in 3-point field goal percentage (40.0). Defensively, TCU allows 76.3 points per game on 45.9 percent shooting, including 38.3 percent from 3-point range, while averaging 36.5 rebounds, 6.6 steals and 3.6 blocks.
• TCU one of the most balanced teams in the country with five players averaging in double figures led by All-Big 12 selections Vlad Brodziansky (15.2 ppg., 5.0 rpg.) and Kenrich Williams (12.9 ppg., 9.3 rpg.). Brodziansky connected on 57.7 percent from the field and 82.2 percent from the free throw line to go with a team-best 1.6 blocks per game. Williams was third in the Big 12 with 12 double-doubles to go with 4.0 assists and a team-high 1.8 steals per game. Sophomore Desmond Bane and redshirt freshman Kouat Noi average 12.9 and 10.4 points per game, respectively, and rank first and second in 3-point makes this season with 57 and 56 treys, respectively. Junior Alex Robinson is one of most underrrated point guards in the country, averaging 9.6 points and 6.1 assists per game.
• TCU is led by head coach Jamie Dixon, who has a 45-25 (.643) record in his second season at his alma mater. Overall, he is 373-148 (.716) in his 15th season as a head coach, which includes a 13-year stint at Pittsburgh (2003-16) where he led the Panthers to 11 NCAA Tournaments.

SERIES HISTORY

• This will be 19th meeting between Kansas State and TCU on the hardwood, including the 14th in the Big 12 era, with the Wildcats holding a 12-6 advantage in a series that dates to 1947. Among the five meetings between the schools prior to the start of the Big 12 era was a 77-72 win by the Horned Frogs in the 1968 NCAA Tournament. K-State won the first five matchups in Big 12 play by average of 11.8 points per game, but TCU has closed the gap with four wins in the last eight meetings, including a 66-59 victory in the last meeting on Feb. 27 at home.
• The two teams have met just once in the Big 12 Championship with TCU earning a 67-65 in the first round on March 11, 2015 in a matchup of the No. 8 and 9 seeds. The Horned Frogs connected on 47.4 percent from the field, including 51.7 percent in the first half, and were led by 16-point efforts from Kyan Anderson and Chris Washburn. The Wildcats shot just 39.7 percent, including 16.7 percent from 3-point range, and were led by Thomas Gipson’s game-tying 16 points and Nino Williams’ double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
• Head coach Bruce Weber is 9-4 all-time against TCU, including 0-1 at the Big 12 Championship.

TOM GILBERT
Associate Director for Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics