Horned Frogs Host No. 6 Bears Saturday
1/19/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
(14-4, 3-3)
(17-1, 5-1)
ESPNU
TwitterFORT WORTH, Texas -- The TCU men's basketball team will try for its first win over a ranked opponent in two seasons when it hosts No. 6 Baylor on Saturday. Start time is set for 7 p.m. inside Schollmaier Arena.
The game will be broadcast on ESPNU with Mitch Holthus (Play-By-Play) and Bryndon Manzer (Color) calling the action. The game can also be heard on KLIF AM 570, KTCU 88.7 FM, FrogVision, TuneIn Radio or Sirius 134/XM 199.
The Opponent
Baylor is 17-1 overall and 5-1 in the Big 12 with its lone loss coming at West Virginia. The 17-1 record ties the best 18-game start in program history (17-1 in 2011-12). The Bears are led by junior forward Jonathan Motley who is averaging 15.8 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. In Baylor's last outing, a 74-64 win over Texas on Tuesday, Motley recorded career highs of 32 points and 20 rebounds. His seven double-doubles leads the Big 12 Conference.
The Series
Baylor leads the series 98-81. The Bears have won the last nine games in the series, all of which have come since 2013, TCU's first year as a member of the Big 12 Conference. TCU won the previous four meetings before joining its new conference. The Frogs' last win over the Bears was a 72-64 victory in Waco on Dec. 7, 2002.
RANKED OPPONENTS
TCU will be trying for its first win over an AP Top 25 team since a 70-55 win over No. 21 Oklahoma State on Feb. 14, 2015. The Frogs have lost its last 18 games against ranked opponents. A TCU win on Saturday against No. 6 Baylor would be the highest ranked team the Frogs have taken down since a 62-55 win over No. 5 Kansas on Feb. 6, 2013.
HOT START
TCU's 14-3 start to the season tied its best in program history. It was the eighth time the Horned Frogs had been 14-3. TCU has already surpassed last year's win total of 12 (12-21) and last year's conference win total of two (2-16). By defeating Arkansas State on Dec. 3, head coach Jamie Dixon became the first first-year head coach in program history to start his career with an 8-0 record. The Horned Frogs are 11-1 at home this year.
BEATING IOWA STATE
On Jan. 14, TCU beat Iowa State for the first time in 20 years. The Horned Frogs were previously 0-8 in their five seasons in the Big 12 with its closest loss being nine points. TCU shot 56.9 percent from the field, its second-best mark of the season. The Horned Frogs had two players (Vladimir Brodziansky 25 points, 14 rebounds; Kenrich Williams 13 points, 13 rebounds) with double-doubles for the first time this season. TCU had last beaten Iowa State, 93-54, on Dec. 24, 1997 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was TCU's first consecutive Big 12 wins since the 2014-15 season.
BRODZIANSKY NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior forward Vladimir Brodziansky was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Jan. 16 after leading TCU to a 2-0 week including two milestone wins. Brodziansky, who became the first Horned Frog to earn the award in TCU's five seasons as members of the league, averaged 22 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks while shooting 20-of-28 (71.4 percent) from the field.
Brodziansky scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds in TCU's 64-61 win at Texas on Wednesday, its first win in Austin in 30 years. The big man then scored 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting, including his first 3-pointer of the season, and had a career-high 14 rebounds in TCU's 84-77 win over Iowa State on Saturday. It was TCU's first win over Iowa State in 20 years.
Receiving Votes
After a brief appearance earlier this season, TCU is back to receiving votes in the national polls. The Frogs earned 29 points in the AP Top 25, the top point-getter that did not make it into the poll. TCU received 10 points in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Earlier this season, TCU received votes in both national polls for the first time since 2015 and remained in both polls for consecutive weeks. The last time the Horned Frogs were receiving votes in both polls came on Jan. 12, 2015. TCU has not been ranked since earning a No. 25 ranking in the AP Poll on Dec. 22, 2014.
Croak Notes
- None of TCU's four losses have come to teams outside the top 50 RPI.
- TCU's NCAA RPI is 26.
- TCU is 14-2 against unranked opponents.
- The Frogs are 11-1 at home this season.
- TCU is 13-1 when outrebounding its opponent.
- TCU is 12-0 when leading at halftime.
- TCU is 9-0 when forcing more turnovers than it commits.
- TCU currently ranks No. 21 in the NCAA in assists (17.2).
- Kenrich Williams ranks No. 2 the Big 12 with 9.6 rebounds per game.
- Brandon Parrish is a 2017 Allstate NABC Good Works Team® nominee.
- Parrish needs to play in only five more games to move into the top-10 all-time in games played in school history.
- Parrish has made at least one 3-pointer in eight of his last 10 games.
- Karviar Shepherd is No. 6 all-time in career starts at TCU with 95. He played in his 100th game against Arkansas State
- Shepherd has tallied 594 career rebounds and needs only 106 to become only the 10th player all-time to capture 700 boards.
- Alex Robinson has recorded 17 games of five or more assists in his career.
- Robinson has led TCU in assists 12 times this season.
- Williams ranks No. 21 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the Big 12 in offensive rebounds with a 3.4 average on the season.
- Vladimir Brodziansky ranks second in the Big 12 and 24th nationally with 2.4 blocks per game.
- Brodziansky is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, the first TCU player to ever win the award.
