Big 12 Tournament: Kansas State v. TCU

Who will WIN this matchup?

Kansas State Wildcats (10-21)

TCU Horned Frogs (16-15)

Current odds:

Kansas State Wildcats: (+115)

TCU Horned Frogs: (-135)

• The line for this game is TCU by 2 points.

• TCU showed some improvement down the stretch following a brutal midseason slump, and the Horned Frogs hope to make some noise in the Big 12 Tournament. They enter the event as the No. 7 seed and will take on 10th-seeded Kansas State in a first-round matchup Wednesday night in Kansas City, Mo. After a six-game losing streak sent TCU toward the bottom of the conference standings, it rebounded to go 3-4 down the stretch with victories over a pair of ranked teams and three single-digit losses. “We talked about just in the last week and a half, we’re good enough to beat Baylor, good enough to be up on Kansas with 10, 12 minutes left at Kansas and good enough to be up 18 against Oklahoma, a very good team,” Horned Frogs coach Jamie Dixon told reporters, referencing back-to-back losses to end the regular season in which his team blew big leads. “We have the ability.”

• The Wildcats suffered through a 10-game losing streak down the stretch before ending their misery with a 79-63 win over Iowa State on Saturday. Senior leader Xavier Sneed scored a career-high 31 points in his final home game as Kansas State won for the first time in 38 days.

• Sneed, who scored at least 15 points in both meetings with the Horned Frogs – both losses – this season, saw the value in ending the long losing streak before the postseason begins. “It definitely means something for us right now, just to get one back in the win column for us,” he told reporters Saturday. “Just to get that momentum going, get some good energy and positive vibes that we have in the locker room today. Keep that going for us, and hopefully we can get four (wins) in a row.” Junior guard Carter Diarra chipped in 14 points Saturday and ranks second to Sneed (14.4) on the scoring list with 13.3 per game while leading the team in assists (4.2).

• Senior guard Desmond Bane has scored at least 22 points in each of his last four games to lift his team-leading average to 16.6 and clinching a spot on the Big 12 first team. Sophomore guard RJ Nembhard contributes 11.8 per game and he handed out seven assists in Saturday’s 78-76 loss to Oklahoma. Senior guard Jaire Grayer scored a season-high 18 points Saturday and averaged 12.5 points – nearly five more than his season mark – in the two matchups with Kansas State this season.

• The Wildcats topped the Horned Frogs 70-61 in the quarterfinals of the tournament last season.

• TCU sophomore C Kevin Samuel is 18-of-27 from the floor over his last five games and ranks third in the Big 12 in field-goal percentage (64.8)

• The winner takes on No. 2 seed Baylor in the quarterfinals Thursday.