TCU
Duke
Preview: vs. No. 1 Duke
3/20/2026 8:04:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Ninth-seeded Horned Frogs will face top-seeded Blue Devils on Saturday
GREENVILLE, S.C. – No. 9 seed TCU (23-11) will face No. 1 seed Duke (33-2) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at 4:15 PM CT on CBS.
NOTES
- TCU's one other time facing a No. 1 seed was in the second round in 2022, an 85-80 overtime loss to Arizona.
- TCU is 3-3 against AP Top 10 teams this season with wins over No. 5 Iowa State, No. 10 Florida and Texas Tech.
- TCU is 1-11 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams with the win coming against No. 1 Kansas in 2017.
- This is TCU's 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Frogs are 8-11 all-time in the Big Dance.
- The Frogs' 23 wins are their most since going 23-14 in the 2018-19 season.
- TCU is making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last eight seasons that a postseason was held.
- All five have come under Jamie Dixon who is 3-4 in the tournament as TCU's head coach and 15-15 overall.
- TCU's best finish came in 1968 when the Horned Frogs made it to the finals of the Midwest Regional.
- TCU has never won more than two games in the NCAA Tournament.
- Dixon is responsible for six of the Frogs' 12 appearances, having also played in the 1987 tournament for TCU.
- It is Dixon's 16th appearance in his 22 seasons as a head coach in which a postseason was held.
- Dixon has made the Sweet 16 three times, the last occurring in 2009 (Elite Eight) while at Pitt.
- TCU had been to one NCAA Tournament in the 30 years prior to Dixon's first appearance in 2018.
- Dixon is one of 11 active coaches who have appeared in at least 16 NCAA Tournaments.
- TCU is one of 27 teams that have made the tournament four times in the last five seasons.
- TCU is the only team to play three of four No. 1 seeds which were Arizona, Florida and Michigan.
- The Horned Frogs are 4-1 in neutral site games this season and 9-6 away from home.
- TCU won eight of its last nine games Big 12 games, the most conference wins over a nine-game stretch since 1998.
- Picked 10th in the Big 12 preseason poll, TCU finished sixth with a program-record 11 Big 12 wins.
- TCU has at least 20 wins for the fourth time in the last five seasons and the seventh times in the last 10.
- Seven of TCU's losses were by six points or less. Three losses were to teams currently ranked in the top five.
- Xavier Edmonds (third team) and David Punch (honorable mention) were named All-Big 12 Conference.
- Punch leads the team in scoring (14.4) and rebounding (6.9).
- Punch is averaging 22 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks over the last three games.
- Edmonds is shooting a team-best 42.6 percent from three and has a 3-point streak of eight games.
- Edmonds has 11 double-doubles, with 10 in Big 12 play, the most of any player in Big 12 games this season.
- Brock Harding ranks fourth in the Big 12 and 32nd nationally with 5.6 assists per game.
- Harding's 191 assists rank as the eighth most in a season at TCU
- TCU ranks 22nd in defensive efficiency with a rating of 97.5 according to KenPom.
- TCU ranks second in the Big 12 with 13.7 turnovers forced per game.
- TCU ranks third in the Big 12 in turnover margin at +2.8 and has had less than 10 turnovers in a game 13 times.
- TCU ranks fourth the Big 12 with 12.4 offensive rebounds.
- TCU ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 7.6 steals per game.
- TCU ranks third in the Big 12 and 36th nationally with 4.5 blocks per game.
- It is Dixon's 10th season with the Horned Frogs. His 527 career wins ranks 19th among active coaches.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
- ACC champion Duke is the top seed in the tournament and No. 1 ranked team in the country. The Blue Devils opened their tournament play with a 71-65 win over No. 16 seed Siena.
- Cameron Boozer leads the team with 22.5 points per game, which ranks ninth nationally. He's averaging a double-double with 10.3 rebounds per game and has 20 double-doubles this year.
SERIES HISTORY
- It is the first meeting between TCU and Duke.
- Jamie Dixon is 2-2 all-time against the Blue Devils, having faced them four times while at Pitt.
- Dixon won his last meeting against Duke, 76-62, on Feb. 28, 2016.
LAST TIME OUT
- TCU won its first-round game, 66-64, over No. 8 seed Ohio State on Thursday.
- Xavier Edmonds hit the game-winning bucket and scored 16 points. David Punch had 16 points and 13 rebounds.
- Micah Robinson hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 18 points.
UP NEXT
- TCU would advance to the East Region semifinal on March 27 in Washington, D.C.
