Preview: TCU at Kansas State

Kansas State has made itself a lock for the NCAA tournament with wins in five straight games and nine of its last 10. The 10th-ranked Wildcats will be trying to keep their hopes of a regular-season Big 12 title alive when they host lowly Texas Christian on Tuesday. Kansas State was tied with Kansas for first place in the conference prior to the Jayhawks' game against Texas Tech on Monday, but has dropped both head-to-head meetings with its in-state rivals.The Horned Frogs made their season with a shocking 62-55 triumph over Kansas on Feb. 6, but have dropped seven straight since and squandered their only chance to stay out of the Big 12 basement by falling at Texas Tech on Saturday. The Wildcats won at TCU 67-54 on Jan. 16, but will have to be careful not to overlook the Horned Frogs with a battle at Oklahoma State coming up on Saturday. Kansas State star Rodney McGruder kept his team in a tie for first place with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in a win at Baylor on Saturday.TV: 8 p.m. ET, TXA-21 (Dallas), Big 12 Network, ESPN3.comABOUT TCU (10-19, 1-15 Big 12): The Horned Frogs rank 343rd out of 347 teams in Division I in scoring offense, averaging 54 points. Only Howard (51.8) and Grambling (49.6) score at a lower rate. After failing to reach 60 points in six straight games, TCU had a virtual offensive explosion on Saturday in a 72-63 loss to the Red Raiders. That setback guaranteed the Horned Frogs the No. 10 seed in the upcoming Big 12 tournament. But as bad as the offense has been, TCU has been able to stay in games because of its defense and slow pace. The Horned Frogs held Kansas to 29.5 percent shooting in their lone conference win and kept the Wildcats below their season scoring average in the first meeting.ABOUT KANSAS STATE (24-5, 13-3): The Wildcats would have loved to knock off rival Kansas in one of their first two meetings, but an outright regular season title would be nice either way. Kansas State will need to win out and have the Jayhawks to drop their remaining game to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament. McGruder is on the shortlist when it comes to conference Player of the Year candidates and proved his clutch shooting abilities with Saturday's game-winning 3-pointer. The senior guard had missed his previous four attempts from beyond the arc in the contest. McGruder led the way with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting in the first meeting with TCU and has reached double figures in eight straight games.TIP-INS1. TCU F Devonta Abron has reached double figures in three straight after accomplishing the feat once in his previous eight contests.2. Kansas State leads the Big 12 in assists (16.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4). The Horned Frogs are last in both categories.3. Wildcats G Angel Rodriguez is averaging 16 points and 6.1 assists in the last eight games.PREDICTION: Kansas State 71, TCU 55