Winthrop @ Texas Christian preview

TCU looks to rebound from its second heartbreaking loss of the season as it continues a homestand that stretches into the next year, when it hosts Winthrop for a non-conference contest on Wednesday night. The Horned Frogs lost 62-60 in overtime to Clemson on Nov. 24 in Las Vegas and rallied from 18 down last Friday before dropping an 80-78 decision at home against USC.

“With a young team, with a new team, I knew we were going to hit adversity at some point,” TCU senior guard Desmond Bane told reporters after the loss. “It came a little earlier than I would’ve liked it to, for sure, but we’ll respond and we’ll get better. I feel it’s good we’re being tested like this. We’ve lost to two good teams by a combined four points.” Bane leads the team in scoring (18.0) and has drained 22-of-50 shots from 3-point range, but was held to 13 points before fouling out Friday as the Horned Frogs allowed USC to shoot 52.6 percent from the field. “We started to find it in the second half,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon told the media of his team’s comeback. “That’s the positive. We found some heart and some determination.” Winthrop has been battled tested this season, beating then-ranked Saint Mary’s 61-59 on Nov. 11 before taking on Duke (83-70 loss) and suffering a 92-88 loss to Coastal Carolina on Saturday in its last outing.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Southwest

ABOUT WINTHROP (4-5): Senior forward Josh Ferguson came off the bench to register a career-high 32 points, connecting on 6-of-12 shots from behind the arc, and leads the Eagles in both scoring (13.7) and rebounds (6.1). Freshman forward D.J. Burns is the only other player on the team averaging in double figures scoring (12.4 on 58.8 percent shooting) while junior guard Chandler Vaudrin chips in with 9.1 points and a club-best 6.4 assists per contest. Freshman guard Russell Jones (9.0 points per game) missed the last game with an ankle injury and junior Hunter Hale (8.0) had a team-high 11 against Duke.

ABOUT TCU (6-2): Sophomore center Kevin Samuel registered his fifth double-double of the season - ninth of his career - against USC and leads the team in rebounds (8.8) along with blocks (2.5) while pouring in 12.1 points per game on 70.3 percent shooting from the field. Sophomore guard RJ Nembhard (12.6 points, 3.3 assists) has also contributed on the offensive end and senior guard Jaire Grayer adds 9.6 points per contest, connecting on 18-of-35 from 3-point range. Freshman guard Francisco Farabello from Argentina leads the team in assists (3.8) and had four with no turnovers in 15 minutes versus USC.

TIP-INS

1. The Horned Frogs are allowing opponents to shoot 39.2 percent from 3-point range, which ranks 336th out of 350 Division I teams in the nation entering Tuesday.

2. Winthrop, which faces TCU for the first time, allowed Coastal Carolina to shoot 55.6 percent from the field and make 9-of-13 from 3-point range in the second half Saturday.

3. TCU senior G Edric Dennis had 12 points on 4-of-7 from the field against USC after combining to score seven on 3-of-15 shooting in the previous two contests.

PREDICTION: TCU 78, Winthrop 66