Three questions facing TCU ahead of the NCAA Tournament

Depending on which TCU men’s basketball team shows up in Indianapolis, the Horned Frogs have a chance for another historic milestone if they can win two games and advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

Of course, TCU can’t afford to look ahead with an up-and-down close to the regular season and in the Big 12 tournament. But now that the Horned Frogs are done with league competition, they can hope that experience of getting through the gauntlet will provide a boost against No. 8 seed Utah State on Friday night in the Midwest Regional in Indianapolis (7:55 p.m., TBS).

With virtually every player in the rotation outside of Essam Mostafa having NCAA Tournament experience, the Horned Frogs should know what to expect and the lights shouldn’t be too bright. This group is used to this stage now and focused on finally winning multiple games after closs losses in the second round to Gonzaga and Arizona the last two seasons.

In order for TCU to topple Utah State and maybe Purdue, there are some questions that the Horned Frogs need to answer. Here’s three of them:

Miller’s ankle

When Emanuel Miller went down with an ankle injury in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 tournament, the collective hearts of the TCU fanbase had to sink into their chests. The All-Big 12 forward has been TCU’s best and most consistent player all season and not having him in the tournament would’ve been a big blow to the Horned Frogs’ chances of contending.

However, Miller returned in the second half against the Cougars and gutted through minor discomfort. With over three days rest since the loss to the Cougars, Miller updated his status on Selection Sunday.

“I’ve been doing rehab the past two days, just trying to get back to that playing level,” Miller said. “Right now it’s swollen, but they’re doing a great job of reducing the swelling and getting some of that inflammation out. (Monday) I’ll hopefully do some non-contact stuff and start to get more movement in the ankle joint and take it from there.”

Coach Jamie Dixon said he expects Miller to be available on Friday along with Ernest Udeh, who has also been dealing with a lower body the last few games. It would be ideal to have Miller 100 percent, but even Miller at 80 or 85 percent is better than him not being on the floor at all.

Has the defense really improved?

The big reason TCU went just 3-5 to close the season was a defensive drop-off. The Horned Frogs blew double digit second half leads to Texas Tech and BYU largely because of an inability to string together stops. In the regular season finale TCU let a UCF team with some of the worst offensive metrics in the country have a breakout scoring performance in the 79-777 upset at Schollmaier Arena.

Dixon said he felt like the team turned the corner on defense in Kansas City with the insertion of Chuck O’Bannon into the starting lineup.

“We told him we were going to play the best defenders and he earned it, I’m proud of him,” Dixon said. “He defended well in the two games in Kansas City. We thinks this makes us better and we have to reward defense. It’s been a battle, it’s supposed to be when you bring in new guys. It’s been a challenge to get us there defensively. We were at our best defensively the last two games.

“We’re good now defensively, I really believe that.”

The optimism is understandable as TCU held Oklahoma to 41 percent shooting in the first half in the midst of building an insurmountable lead in the Big 12 tournament. Against Houston the only reason TCU wasn’t blown out more is the fact the defense was able to limit the Cougars to just 60 points. With the Aggies averaging almost 80 points per game, TCU’s defensive improvement will be put to the test.

Guard play

In March Madness there’s nothing more valuable than having an elite big man or high level guard play. TCU doesn’t have the type of big man it can rely on for 20 points and 10 rebounds, so instead it will have to hope to get more consistent production from its trio of guards Jameer Nelson Jr., Avery Anderson and Trevian Tennyson.

Nelson has been solid down the stretch with double digit scoring in five of his last six games, though he did shot below 33 percent in both games in Kansas City. Anderson has struggled mightily the last six games. In his last three he’s one total point and in general has hasn’t a game shooting better than 33 percent since Feb. 20. TCU envisioned Anderson and Nelson being another version of Mike Miles and Damion Baugh, but it hasn’t come to fruition yet. TCU needs Anderson to get back to his self as his speed in transition helps the fast break offense flourish.

As for Tennyson in the last six games, Tennyson has been held to two points or fewer three times including being scoreless against Baylor. Teams are trying to attack Tennyson more on defense and playing him much tighter coming off screens. TCU’s half court offense functions much better when Tennyson is knocking down shots and creating space. If the Horned Frogs can just get two of the three playing at a high level then TCU could be dangerous.