Field Level Media
Mar 10, 2023
Mike Miles and Chuck O'Bannon each scored 22 points as No. 22 TCU defeated No. 12 Kansas State 80-67 in the final quarterfinal match of the Big 12 tournament Thursday night in Kansas City, Mo.
The Horned Frogs (22-11), who came in as the sixth seed, will face No. 7 and second-seeded Texas in the second semifinal Friday. Texas won the 2021 title. TCU is still looking for its first postseason conference tournament championship.
Third-seeded Kansas State (23-9) was led by Desi Sills and Keyontae Johnson with 14 points each. But Johnson picked up four second-half fouls and fouled out with 6:21 left. Markquis Nowell was limited to 11 points and Nae'Qwan Tomlin had 10.
TCU slowly extended the lead to as many as 11 early in the second half. When Miles hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game, TCU led 63-49 with 11:13 left. The Frogs led by as many as 16 points and K-State never threatened after that.
The Horned Frogs hit five of their first seven 3-pointers of the second half. They finished 6-for-13 on 3-point attempts in the second half and 11-for-25 in the game.
K-State committed 20 turnovers.
K-State, which struggled often this year with slow starts, raced out to an 11-2 lead before the first media timeout. TCU responded with a 7-0 run and eventually tied it at 13-all. When Miles hit his second 3-pointer with 9:50 left in the half, TCU had its first lead at 19-18.
TCU extended the lead to as many as eight before taking a 37-32 lead into the locker room, despite shooting just 36.8 percent from the field. The Horned Frogs were led by Miles with 12 points in the half.
K-State was led by Desi Sills with seven first-half points. He also kept the Wildcats in the game with four blocks in the half. The Cats were hurt by 11 turnovers in the first half.
--Field Level Media