Kansas @ Texas Christian preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 9, 2017 ) Texas Christian 85, Kansas 82

Tenth-ranked Kansas has won the Big 12 regular-season title an amazing 13 straight years. But the Jayhawks, who travel to No. 15 TCU on Saturday, find themselves in the middle of the conference standings looking up after their first-ever home loss to Texas Tech on Tuesday night.

Both the Jayhawks and Horned Frogs, who bounced back from a conference-opening 90-89 home loss to Oklahoma with an 81-78 overtime win at Baylor on Tuesday, are 1-1 and trail the Sooners, Texas Tech and West Virginia, who are all 2-0, in the Big 12 standings. A loss to TCU, which defeated then-No. 1 Kansas, 85-82, in the quarterfinals of Big 12 Tournament in their last meeting last March, would put Bill Self's Jayhawks in a pretty big hole to climb out of in their quest for a 14th consecutive title. With five teams ranked in the top 18 this week, including three in the top 10, Self knows it will be anything but a smooth ride to the championship. "It's a great league," Self said at his news conference Thursday. "It's going to be a gauntlet, and no one will run the table. There will be a lot of ups and downs so you have to move on to the next one quickly. (You) have to have a short memory."

TV: 9:15 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT KANSAS (11-3, 1-1 Big 12): The 85-73 loss to the 18th-ranked Red Raiders, who jumped out to a 23-7 lead and were never really threatened, marked the worst home conference loss for the Jayhawks since a 25-point defeat to Missouri on Feb. 1, 1989, and also marked the first time in the 15-season Self era that Kansas never led in a game at Allen Fieldhouse. "I've done such a crap job getting guys to understand how athletes who are hungry play," Self said. "Just competitive plays, acting like you wanted to be an athlete and competitive ... we weren't even in the game there." Senior guard Devonte' Graham, who leads the team in scoring (17.9 points per game) and assists (7.5), had 27 points, six assists and five turnovers in the loss but guards Lagerald Vick (16.3) and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (16.2), who are second and third onthe team in scoring, respectively, combined for just 13 points in the loss.

ABOUT TCU (13-1, 1-1): The Horned Frogs, who blew a 13-point halftime lead in their home loss to Trae Young (39 points) and the seventh-ranked Sooners on dec. 30, blew a 12-point halftime lead three nights later at Baylor but rallied to pull out a 81-78 victory in overtime behind 18 points from 6-11 senior forward Vladimir Brodziansky, who sank the go-ahead 3-pointer in OT. "Welcome to the Big 12," TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. "As I tell our guys, every game is going to be like this. ... Going to be 16 more like it." Senior guard Kenrich Williams leads the Frogs in scoring (14.8), rebounding (9.2) and steals (2.7) while Brodziansky (13.7 points), guard Desmond Bane (12.6), point guard Jaylen Fisher (11.3) and forward JD Miller (11.1) also are averaging in double figures.

TIP-INS

1. TCU leads the Big 12 and ranks seventh nationally in field goal percentage (51.4 percent) one spot ahead of Kansas (51.3).

2. Graham was 13-of-13 at the free throw line in the loss to Texas Tech and has made his last 17 free throws.

3. TCU is 17-148 all-time against ranked teams and hasn't defeated a top-25 foe at home since Feb. 14, 2015, when the Horned Frogs knocked off No. 21 Oklahoma State, 70-55.

PREDICTION: Kansas 92, TCU 89