Wisconsin vs. TCU Preview: Can the Badgers win their 4th tournament in 5 years?

The Wisconsin Badgers take on the TCU Horned Frogs in the Rady Children’s Invitational Championship Game on Friday, November 28th. Tip-off is at 4:30 pm on FOX, and Wisconsin is a 6.5-point favorite.

The Badgers bounced back from their first loss of the season in a big way with a 104-83 thrashing of the Providence Friars. Nick Boyd went on a tear against the Friars’ defense by scoring 36 points on 15-of-25 shots from the floor. It was also a solid bounce-back performance for Austin Rapp, as he collected his first 20-point game at Wisconsin.

What should Badger fans know about the TCU Horned Frogs?

Opponent Preview

TCU comes into this game with a 4-2 record in Jamie Dixon’s 10th season in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs are coming off an impressive 84-80 upset win over 10th-ranked Florida, rallying from a 10-point deficit in the second half to defeat the defending national champions. In that game, TCU forced 19 Gator turnovers and held their ground on the boards (31-28 UF) against one of the best rebounding teams in the nation.

Forward David Punch has been the do-it-all leader of the Horned Frogs through six games. Punch leads TCU with 12.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, as well as 14 blocks on the season. Against Florida, Punch came within one rebound of his first double-double of the season, finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks.

The Horned Frogs feature four brand new starters. Providence transfer guard Jayden Pierre is TCU’s second-leading scorer at 11.8 points per game and has a 40.6 percent rate from three. Iowa transfer point guard Brock Harding leads TCU with 6.3 assists and 3.6 steals per game.

Oregon State transfer guard Liutauras Lelevicius averages 7.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. Junior college transfer Xavier Edmonds has started the last five games for TCU after center Malick Diallo suffered a season-ending ACL tear in their season opener. Edmonds averages 8.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game.

One name Badger fans should note is 6-foot-6 forward Micah Robinson. Robinson averages 10.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game coming off the bench for TCU. Among players with over 100 minutes played for the Horned Frogs, Robinson is the best three-pointer shooter on the team at 42.5 percent on the season.

Score Prediction

Wisconsin appeared to get its groove back by feasting on a poor Providence defense, but can it carry that offense over against a much better defensive unit in TCU? The Badgers are capable of doing so, but they must take care of the ball. TCU comes into this game averaging 9.8 steals per game as a team, good for 19th in the country, so ball possession is paramount to winning on Friday.

This game should be a back-and-forth game well into the second half, but Wisconsin has enough firepower on offense to put away TCU at the end to win the Rady Children’s Invitational tournament.

Prediction: Wisconsin 87-81.