TCU Horned Frogs vs. Kansas Jayhawks Prediction & Game Preview - 3/3/2022

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS

Where to watch: Big 12 Network

DraftKings: Kansas -10.5

BetMGM: Kansas -10.5

Caesars: Kansas -10.5

TCU: 19-9 (8-8 Big 12)

No. 6 Kansas: 23-6 (12-4 Big 12)

If you listen closely enough, you can still hear the TCU student section roaring like crazy and celebrating in their dorm rooms like they just won the greatest basketball game to have ever existed in Fort Worth, Texas. Lord help us all if they do it again.

The Horned Frogs are coming off a season-defining win against these same Kansas Jayhawks on Tuesday and will look to try and do it again Thursday in Lawrence. TCU won 74-64 to hand the Jayhawks their second straight loss and more than likely sending them out of the top 10 before conference tournament time starts.

Mike Miles led all scorers with 19 points and TCU dominated in the second half to lead to its best win of the season. The Frogs trailed by one at halftime before their suffocating defense led the way. Despite the fact TCU shot 3 of 15 from 3-point range and just 42 percent from the floor, the defense was just out of this world.

"I'm really glad for our players, they really bought in," coach Jamie Dixon said, pointing out that it was March 1. "You could see it this last week and you could just kind of see things coming."

TCU is likely headed for the NCAA tournament unless things fall through in the final minute or so. That's a great sign for the Big 12 to be, at worst, a five-bid league going into March. That is at least something to consider for everything that's transpired with this league right now.

As for the other team ... yeah, we're in the endgame right now with Kansas.

For all the time I've praised this group because Bill Self is running the show, they go out and lay two eggs in a three-day span and are in serious danger of falling out of everything. I'd still bet on them to make a deep run in the tournament, but that's a big problem right now.

Kansas followed their loss to Baylor over the weekend with the second-half collapse in Fort Worth. Ochai Agbaji, the conference's leading scorer, was held to just 4 of 17 shooting and the team as a whole shot 37 percent from the floor. Just a crazy 180 from where things were three weeks ago.

"Baylor was a game in which we played well in stretches and we played poorly in stretches, but they're good. And it was on the road. ... I mean, sometimes that happens," Self said. "Tonight was more bothersome to me because we had everything to play for, but they did too. And it looked like to me, they were the quicker, more aggressive team, hands down."

I really don't want to give up on Kansas just yet. In the grand scheme of things, this is just the bump in the road. But that group can't get too happy with shooting the 3 ball. That's what happened in this last game and it proved to be such a disaster for Kansas. If it comes down to something like that again, TCU is going to find a way to stay in this game.

It's probably the booze talking, but I'm liking TCU to cover. This is absolutely something I need to take into consideration after how last game went and just where the team is at right now. I think Kansas ends up getting a win here, but it's going to be a long road to get there. Kansas by 6

TCU is 6-1 ATS on the road this season.

TCU is 65-101 ATS after covering two of their last three.

Kansas is 7-9 ATS against conference opponents this season.

PG: Mike Miles Jr.

SG: Damion Baugh

SF: Chuck O'Bannon Jr.

PF: Emmanuel Miller

C: Eddie Lampkin Jr.

PG: Dajuan Harris Jr.

SG: Ochai Agbaji

SF: Christian Braun

PF: Jalen Wilson

C: David McCormack

Points: Mike Miles Jr. -- 14.7

Rebounds: Emmanuel Miller -- 6.3

Assists: Mike Miles Jr. -- 4.0

Points: Ochai Agbaji -- 20.2

Rebounds: Jalen Wilson -- 7.2

Assists: Dajuan Harris Jr. -- 4.2