Texas Christian snapped an eight-game losing streak to Oklahoma with a 59-58 overtime victory on Jan. 15. The teams combined to miss 30 of 39 3-point attempts. It was just the fifth time TCU has defeated Oklahoma in 32 meetings between the teams. The Sooners have never lost in 14 home games against Texas Christian.
Oklahoma was 4-0-1 against the spread in its previous five meetings with TCU before the overtime loss.
TCU in 3-1 on the road and is one of three Big 12 teams with winning marks in true road games this season. The Horned Frogs have won three of their last four games decided by less than 10 points.
Oklahoma (+10000) has the fifth-best odds to win the national championship.
Game: Texas Christian (14-4) at Oklahoma (13-8)
Location: Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Okla.
Day/Time: Monday, 9 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN2
TCU Horned Frogs at Oklahoma Sooners
Inside Muscle
The Texas Christian Horned Frogs began the season by outrebounding three of its first six opponents by more than 20. Accomplishing that feat against McNeese State, Southern Mississippi and Austin Peay led to obvious questions about what would happen when the degree of difficulty began to increase in Big 12 play.
Well, the Horned Frogs have been outrebounded only once in six conference games and lead the conference in rebounding margin, total rebounds, offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds. The Horned Frogs rank third nationally in rebounding margin, fifth in offensive rebounds per game and seventh in total rebounds per game.
That inside strength was on display when TCU outrebounded LSU by six in the Horned Frogs’ upset of the nationally ranked Tigers in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
𝙁𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙮 𝙁𝙞𝙡𝙢𝙨 vs. LSU#GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/p4xGXAaNQu
— TCU Basketball (@TCUBasketball) January 31, 2022
Emmanuel Miller, the only TCU player to start all 18 games, is the team’s leading rebounder with an average of 6.9 while Eddie Lampkin Jr. has a team-high 53 offensive rebounds.
TCU shot 49 percent against an LSU team that was allowing opponents to shoot just 36 percent coming into the game and that could bode well facing an Oklahoma team that is seventh in the Big 12 in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense.
The Horned Frogs have covered against the college basketball spreads in five of their six games. They have also covered in each of their last five road games.
Oklahoma Battle-Tested
Nobody can accuse the Oklahoma Sooners of backing away from a challenge.
The Sooners have played the No. 1 team in the Associated Press poll twice this season and both of those matchups took place this month.
Baylor used a big first half to post a 10-point win against visiting Oklahoma on Jan. 4 and then fell 86-68 to Auburn on Saturday. Six of Oklahoma’s nine games in January have come against ranked opponents.
Despite the difficult schedule, Oklahoma is ninth among Division I men’s teams in field goal percentage, making 48.9 percent of its shots. Tanner Groves is a major reason as he is the Big 12 leader with a 56.4 field-goal percentage. Oklahoma is 10-1 when shooting better than 50 percent from the field. The Sooners are coming off their second-worst shooting game , making just 39 percent of their shots.
Four of the Oklahoma players to average more than 10 minutes per game are shooting better than 50 percent. It should be noted that Oklahoma was just 24 of 60 from the field and 5 of 22 on 3-pointers in the first game against TCU. The offense was hurt by 20 turnovers that resulted in steals by Texas Christian.
Oklahoma has covered against the Las Vegas odds in just two of its last six games.
Another Low-Scoring Game?
The Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Christian Horned Frogs couldn’t be more different offensively. The Sooners are third in the Big 12 in 3-point attempts while no conference team has made fewer three-pointers than the Horned Frogs.
TCU make opponents work for points and no Big 12 team has allowed fewer free-throw attempts than the Horned Frogs.
Those who bet online might be interested to know that the total has gone under in four of Texas Christian’s last six games and four of Oklahoma’s last six games.
Oklahoma has covered in just five of its last 20 games as the favorite.
Considering how neither team hit the 60-point mark despite the first game between the teams heading into overtime, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see the total at just 127½.
