WVU vs. TCU Preview: Sweet Frogs

Game Day Vitals

• #18 West Virginia Mountaineers (15-3, Big XII 3-2, NCAA RPI 24) vs. TCU Horned Frogs (14-4, Big XII 1-4, NCAA RPI 137)
• Series Record: 5-0, last matchup was in Forth Worth with Juwan out W 78-67
• Location: Lyons Den (Capacity: 14,000) Morgantown, West Virginia
• Vegas Lines: (-9.5) for the good guys, O/U: N/A
• Date: Saturday, Jan 24th, 2015, at 2:00PM EST
• Television: ESPNU / WatchESPN
• Radio Affiliates

Opponent Information

• TCU Horned Frogs (14-4, Big XII 1-4, NCAA RPI 137)
• Head Coach - Trent Johnson, Third year as TCU head coach, 260–231 career (.529)
• Last Result - Loss vs. Texas in Fort Worth L 66-48
• Official Horned Frogs athletics website
• SBN TCU blog - Frogs O' War
  

Current Big 12 Standings

Yep, that Texas game was rough. No denying that, but we're still in this thing.

It can be done.

So, yeah, that Texas game sucked. It sucked the same amount that OU game was awesome. I'm going to say the same thing that I did after that Sooner beatdown: it is January. There is plenty of work to be done still and Saturday brings a chance to get back on the horse. The weird thing is that chance wears purple and shoots blood out of its eyes.

The TCU Horned Frogs are a work in progress. Trent Johnson has done a good job so far building the program into a game-in-game-out competitor, but losing four of five will hurt any team's confidence. Not long ago, the Frogs were undefeated going into that game with West Virginia early this month, but a few losses in a row changes things. What doesn't change is that Kyan Anderson, 5'11 junior guard, is the real deal. Averaging 14 points, he is a threat that the Mountaineers have to contain after putting up 16 against them in Forth Worth. Senior guard Trey Zeigler is the other main focus for Bob Huggins and his squad with Zeigler deciding to play out of his skull and drop 17 on us, 19 against K-State days later, and then coming back to earth the last few outings with single digit performances. The absolute key for the Mountaineers will be to limit Anderson and Zeigler's production in the half court and make the Frogs hurt you in other areas.

The other significant story line going into this game is the status of Juwan Staten. Not health-wise, mind you, but performance-wise. After a stellar performance against Iowa State, Staten only scored four points against Oklahoma going 1-9 from the field. However, his eight assists that game makes the lack of scoring production bearable. The Texas game is another story with a total of three points going 1-7 from the field and zero assists. That can't happen. More importantly, that can't continue.

I see Juwan getting his groove back and the combination of #PressVirginia and the sold-out Coliseum crowd being too much for the purple fly eaters.

Prediction: WVU 80 TCU 64