Game 16: TCU at No. 15 Kansas– Preview and Prediction

January 28, 2021 Bobby Norell

For the first time in nearly three weeks, the No. 15 Kansas Jayhawks return to the friendly confines of Allen Fieldhouse and boy do they need some home cooking. KU comes in reeling on a three-game losing streak, just the third three-game losing streak in the Bill Self era. They welcome the TCU Horned Frogs into Allen Fieldhouse, a team Kansas walloped in Fort Worth by a score of 93-64 on January 5th. TCU could just be just the recipe KU has been looking for, as the Frogs also come in on a three-game skid and haven’t played since January 12th.

Thursday, January 27th, 2021, 7 PM CDT
Allen Fieldhouse – Lawrence, Kan.
ESPN+
No. 15/18 Kansas (10-5, 4-4) returns home after a three-game road stretch to host TCU (9-5, 2-4) on Thursday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m., on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+. Ted Emrich and Lance Blanks will call the action.
Kansas leads the Big 12 in blocked shots at 4.33 per game and ranks in the upper half of 10 conference statistical categories.
Kansas enters the TCU contest No. 4 in NET strength of schedule, which is first in the Big 12. The Jayhawks have led NCAA Division I in NET SOS each of the last two seasons and five times under head coach Bill Self (2005, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020).
Junior Ochai Agbaji is second in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals made per game at 2.7 and is second in 3-point field goal percentage at 43.2%. Agbaji has made 28 threes in his last nine games.
With the consecutive weeks being ranked at 230, which is an NCAA record, the Kansas-TCU contest will be the 418th-straight game KU will play as a ranked team, a streak which started Feb. 2, 2009.
Kansas is 98-15 following a loss in the Bill Self era, which started in 2003-04, including 2-2 this season and 3-0 in 2019-20. Incredibly, KU has been even more efficient over the last six-plus seasons, amassing a record of 47-7 after losses. This includes an 8-1 mark in 2018-19.

Horned Frogs to Watch

RJ Nembhard – 6’5”, junior, guard
Nembhard is third Big 12 in scoring at 17.2 PPG, has had five 20+ point games this season and has been over 20 points in two league games this season. He’s been incredibly efficient as he’s shooting the ball 46.0 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from three. It is safe to say Nembhard can pour in the points. KU will need its best defensive effort against Nembhard.

Kevin Samuel – 6’11”, junior, forward
Samuel has been solid down in the post this season for TCU, as he’s averaging 9.6 PPG and 9.3 RPG. KU’s David McCormack has been pretty non-existent the past two games against Baylor and Oklahoma. The Jayhawks will need a much better effort out of their big man in order to matchup with Samuel.

Jayhawk Pick to Click

Marcus Garrett – 6’5”, senior, guard
Garrett turned in his one of his better performances of the season in Saturday’s loss to OU, as he scored 21 points and pulled down 12 boards. He did a great job at getting in the lane and getting easy shots around the basket. I’ll go with Garrett to carry over that hot play and lead the Jayhawks against TCU. KU will need it’s senior leader to step up as we head into the last month of the regular season.

Prediction

If there was ever a recipe for a Kansas winner, this game screams it. TCU hasn’t won in its last three games and on top of that, they haven’t played in over two weeks. Kansas thumped TCU earlier this month and they’re going to do it again. KU badly needs a win, and they aren’t going to lose four straight, especially to a team like TCU. I expect one of those games for the Jayhawks where it just all clicks and they boat race them. I’ll say the threes go in, the team sees struggling stars Jalen Wilson and Christian Braun get going a bit, and the contest is never close from the jump. Give me the Jayhawks to cover and get back on track heading into a weekend showdown with Tennessee.