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Game Day Vitals
- West Virginia Mountaineers (12-1, Big 12 1-0, RPI 24) vs. TCU Horned Frogs (8-5, Big 12 0-1, RPI 196)
- Series Record: WVU leads series 6-0
- Location: Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena (formerly Daniel-Meyer Coliseum) (Capacity: 7201) Fort Worth, TX
- Vegas Lines: WVU (-10) O/U 140
- Date: Monday, January 4, 2015, 7 pm ET
- Television: ESPN2
- TV Announcers: Mark Neely and Fran Fraschilla
- Online Streaming: WatchESPN
- Radio Affiliates
Opponent Information
- TCU Horned Frogs (8-5, Big 12 0-1, RPI 196)
- Head Coach: Trent Johnson, 4th year at TCU (44-53), career (270-237) 17th year
- Last Result: lost to Oklahoma State 69-48
- Official TCU Athletics website
- SB Nation TCU Blog - Frogs O'War
Game Preview
The Mountaineers are coming off a frustrating performance Saturday in Manhattan Kansas. Though no conference road win can be undervalued, there was little good to take away from that one. The lone exception was the play of Jaysean Paige, who showed Coach Huggins and the WVU faithful that there may be at least one guy on this team that can consistently score with the ball in his hands in close games.As WVU takes on Texas Christian in Fort Worth tonight, the story is a familiar one; if WVU wants to assert itself as a contender for the Big 12 conference title, this is absolutely a must win game. The Horned Frogs are coming off an embarrassing 21-point dismantlement at the hands of Oklahoma State on Saturday, and were picked second to last in the preseason conference poll.
On paper, WVU should present serious problems for Trent Johnson's squad. Their primary weaknesses fall in the two categories in which WVU leads the nation. TCU gives up a bunch of offensive rebounds (30.2 Off. Reb.%D) and turns the ball over at a fatal rate (21.6%).
It would be nice to see some more of the things that we have come to expect from WVU than we saw in Manhattan. If the press fails to turn over the Horned Frogs effectively, there will be some reason to question how well it will fair going forward against more talented teams who have also seen it a couple times last season. If the Mountaineers do what they do best, those fears can be pushed away for now and WVU will roll.
Prediction: WVU 79, TCU 62