MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — One team’s Big Monday is another’s big headache.
That’s the distinction to be drawn from West Virginia and TCU entering their featured matchup on ESPN.
Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins no longer sounds keen on the compressed turnaround following Saturday games. Whereas years ago the promotional exposure seemed worth the inconvenience, nowadays nearly every power-conference game is televised anyway.
“Big Monday used to be like the weekly Super Bowl and it’s not any more,” Huggins said.
In Fort Worth, at least, it sure feels like happening.
Because TCU has never been a part of the Big Monday lineup that ESPN debuted 30 years ago, coach Jamie Dixon filmed two promotional videos for the network. In them he coaches up the pep band and the mascot Superfrog that “It’s GOTTA BE BIG!”
It’s big in myriad ways for TCU (14-5, 2-5), beset by a string of razor-thin losses that threaten to vaporize a 13-0 start. Losing point guard Jaylen Fisher to a season-ending knee injury last week was only part of the bad news. During Saturday’s 73-68 loss at Kansas State, Dixon’s second technical (issued while kneeling outside the coach’s box) led to his first career ejection.
“I told the players afterwards, I take full responsibility for the loss. It was on me,” he said. “I gave them points — four free throws — and I think they made three of them. In a close game that just kills our team.”
No. 6 West Virginia (16-3, 5-2), on the heels of its largest-ever Big 12 margin of victory in an 86-51 beatdown of Texas, worked out Sunday before flying to Fort Worth. Since joining their new conference in 2013, the Mountaineers are 7-7 in Monday-after-Saturday games.
They’re currently second in the Big 12 standings, a game behind Kansas thanks to last week’s Big Monday loss at the WVU Coliseum. With the conference’s round-robin gauntlet nearing the midpoint, coach Bob Huggins figures resiliency will be the intangible that matters most.
“The league champion’s probably going to have four losses,” he said. “Could be five.”
No. 7 West Virginia (15-3, 5-2) at TCU (14-5, 2-5)
Tipoff: Monday, 9 p.m. in Fort Worth (ESPN)
The skinny: The Frogs have split two games since Fisher’s injury, with Alex Robinson taking over the minutes at point guard. One of those resulted in a 17-assist game vs. Iowa State. … 6-11 forward Vlad Brodziansky (15.4 points, 4.6 rebounds) and 6-7 guard Kenrich Williams (14.7 points, 9. 4 rebounds) are the seniors that could lead TCU to its first NCAA bid since 1998. There’s obviously work to do, considering no recent Big 12 team has made the Dance with less than an 8-10 league mark. … The Mountaineers are 11-0 all-time vs. TCU, including last season’s 61-60 win at Schollmaier Arena in which Daxter Miles made the go-ahead free throw after a controversial foul on Fisher with 4.8 seconds left.
Scouting WVU: Jevon Carter (16.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists) found his deep stroke against the Longhorns, making 4-of-7 from 3. He has played the third-most minutes in the Big 12 behind Iowa State’s Nick Weiler-Babb and Devonte Graham of Kansas. … After making 12-of-12 vs. Texas, the Mountaineers rank No. 2 in Big 12 free-throw percentage at 75.6. … Miles (13.1 points) and Beetle Bolden (9.7 points, 42 percent on 3s) have emerged as Carter’s primary cohorts. … Trying to shake a three-game funk in which he has shot 4-of-18, Lamont West (11.4 points, 5.3 rebounds) played a season-low 10 minutes on Saturday. … Despite averaging nearly 30 minutes in his three-game return from suspension, Esa Ahmad (13.7 points, 6 rebounds) still hasn’t gotten enough shots.
Quotable: “We tried to run the offense we are supposed to run, and not just whoever gets it shoots it..” — Huggins on how West Virginia ran up 86 points vs. Texas
RPIs: West Virginia 18, TCU 22
Prediction: West Virginia 78-74