The TCU men’s basketball team is heading to Austin for a Wednesday night showdown with the sputtering Texas Longhorns.
Losers of 16 straight games, the Frogs (9-19, 0-16 Big 12) have two chances left in the regular season to avoid a winless record in conference play.
TCU began the season 9-3, but hasn’t won a game since Dec. 29 against Texas Southern. The last time the Frogs won on the road was Dec. 5 over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
The team is coming off an 81-59 drubbing from West Virginia (16-13, 8-8 Big 12) in which senior forward Jarvis Ray recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. TCU was outscored 42-23 in the second half.
“We’re trying to get that corrected and get ready for a Texas team that’s lost two in a row,” TCU head coach Trent Johnson said.
The Longhorns (21-8, 10-6 Big 12) have lost three of their last four after initially closing in on conference champion Kansas’ (22-7, 13-3) first place spot in the Big 12. Texas is 15-2 at home this season and currently tied for second place with Iowa State (22-6, 10-6 Big 12) and Oklahoma (21-8, 10-6 Big 12).
The last time TCU met up with the then-No. 15 Longhorns, the Frogs led at halftime but couldn’t complete the upset at home, falling 59-54.
Texas forward Jonathan Holmes scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds in the win.
Coming into Wednesday night’s game, the Frogs and Longhorns are at the bottom of the conference in field goal percentage. TCU is also last in scoring offense, scoring margin, rebounding, rebounding margin and assists.
TCU forward Amric Fields is likely out for the rest of the year with a knee injury, Johnson said. The 6-foot-8 junior has missed the last three games.
“I think we’re gonna move forward without him,” Johnson said. “My gut feels right now that he’s done for the remainder of the year.”
Fields marks the fifth player TCU has lost for the season.
“It seems like [every] week, it’s something else,” Johnson said “These guys, led by Kyan [Anderson], have been pretty resilient.”
Anderson, a junior guard, has averaged 16.6 points per game over the course of the season, which is tied for seventh-highest in the Big 12.
The Frogs and Longhorns tip-off at 7 p.m. at the Frank Erwin Center.