TCU Hosts No. 3 Kansas Friday Night
12/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
(11-1)
(11-1)
ESPN2
TwitterFORT WORTH, Texas -- Returning from the holiday break, the TCU men's basketball team will kick-off conference action for the 2016-17 season by hosting No. 3/3 Kansas.
Start time is set for 8:00 p.m. CT inside Schollmaier Arena. Fans not able to attend the conference opener against the Jayhawks can follow it live on ESPN2 with Rich Hollenberg (Play-By-Play) and Miles Simon (Color) calling the action live. The game can also be heard on KTCU, FrogVision or via TuneIn Radio.
THE OPPONENT
No. 3/3 Kansas (11-1) opens Big 12 play on the road and its 11-match winning streak, which is tied with TCU, is the seventh longest in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are coming off a 71-53 win at UNLV on Dec. 22 in their first true road game of the season. Kansas has won 25-straight conference openers dating back to the1991-92 season with 15 of those coming on the road. The last time KU lost a conference opener was at Oklahoma, 88-82, on Jan. 8, 1991.
THE SERIES
TCU and Kansas will be meeting up for the14th time in program history and the10th time since becoming conference opponents. The Frogs have only won one game in the series which was the first conference game against the two on Feb. 6, 2013 and head coach Jamie Dixon will be facing the Jayhawks for the first time in his coaching career.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Sophomore Alex Robinson tied a career-high lat SMU by dishing out a season-high 10 assists. His 10 assists were the most by a TCU student-athlete since former Frog Hank Thorns dished out 11at Air Force in 2011. The10 assists were also the fourth- most in the Big 12 Conference this season. Robinson previously had 10 assists against Youngstown State on Dec. 13, 2014, while at Texas A&M.
BRODZIANSKY = POINTS
Junior Vladimir Brodziansky went a perfect 4-of-4 from the field in TCU's loss at SMU. The Slovakian made13-straight buckets until going 3-for-5 against Texas Southern. A year ago, Brodziansky made14-straight field goals between three games before misfiring.
BUILDING A BENCH
TCU has out-scored its opponent off the bench in all 12 games this season and in the last seven games alone, the Frogs have out-scored its opponents, 271-123. For the season, TCU's bench has outscored its opponents' bench by a combined score of 440-195 (an average of 36.7 -- 16.3 per game).
UNDEFEATED TEAMS
By taking down Arkansas State, 77-54, TCU was one of only 12 remaining undefeated teams in the NCAA up until falling at SMU. The other 11teams were: Villanova, Baylor, Creighton, UCLA, Gonzaga, Butler, Saint Mary's, South Carolina, USC, Notre Dame and Texas A&M-CC.
RECEIVING VOTES
TCU moved into the national spotlight by receiving 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.
IT'S A START
By defeating Arkansas State, head coach Jamie Dixon became the first first-year head coach in program history to start his career with an 8-0 record. The 11-1 start by TCU matches the second-best in program history (1930-31) and only the 2014-15 squad (13-0) posted a better record to open a campaign. The Horned Frogs are 9-0 at home this year, averaging 82.7 points.
GRAB THE ROCK
Junior Kenrich Williams, who recorded his fourth double-double of the season against Wofford with 11points and 13 rebounds, posted a career-high 18 rebounds in TCU's victory over UNLV. He has now had 10 or more boards in four of the last six games. His 18 boards were the most since fellow teammate Karviar Shepherd posted 19 a year ago against Delaware State. His 18 rebounds are the most in a single-game in the Big 12 Conference this season and is tied for the16th highest in the NCAA.
DECEMBER NUMBERS
TCU is now 23-5 during the month of December since 2012. In the last four years, the Frogs have gone unblemished during the month twice. Jamie Dixon is now 84-12 during the month of December as a head coach.
TCU NOTES
• TCU and Kansas will meet for the14th time Friday night.
• TCU head coach Jamie Dixon is 84-12 during the month of December.
• TCU currently ranks No. 25 in turnovers forced in the NCAA and No. 23 in turnover margin.
• Brandon Parrish played in his 109th game last Wednesday and is a 2017 Allstate NABC Good Works Team® nominee.
• Parrish needs to play in only 10 more games to move into the top-10 all-time in games played in school history.
• Karviar Shepherd is now No. 6 all-time in career starts at TCU with 95. He played in his 100th game against Arkansas State
• Shepherd has tallied 588 career rebounds and needs only 112 to become only the10th player all-time to capture 700 boards.
• Alex Robinson has recorded 13 games of five or more assists in his career. He had 10 against SMU.
• Robinson,who was named to the all-tournament team in Vegas, has led TCU in assists eight times this season.
• Robinson scored a career-high 24 points against Washington in Las Vegas and had a career-high 10 assists versus SMU.
• Kenrich Williams grabbed a career-high 18 boards against UNLV. He has now had 10 or more boards in 4 of the last 6 games.
• Williams' 18 boards are the most in the Big 12 Conference this season and tied for the16th most in the NCAA.
