FORT WORTH, Texas – TCU tied an opponent school-record high with 15 made 3-point field goals, including 5 from senior Desmond Bane, as the Horned Frogs snapped a 7-game losing streak with a 68-57 win over Kansas State on Saturday afternoon before 6,288 fans at Schollmaier Arena.

The 15 triples by the Horned Frogs (14-11, 5-7 Big 12) were the most allowed by a Wildcat team in more 15 years, tying the mark set originally by Missouri on Feb. 28, 1998 and tied by Saint Louis on Jan. 3, 2004. In all, five players connected on at least one 3-pointer, including a combined 9 by Bane (5) and graduate student Jaire Grayer (4).

Despite record amount of 3-pointers, K-State (9-16, 2-10 Big 12) still had an opportunity to snap its losing streak, as the Wildcats led 50-48 after senior Xavier Sneed’s third consecutive field goal that forced TCU head coach Jamie Dixon to call a timeout with 8:09 to play. The Sneed jumper capped a 10-2 run by the Wildcats after they trailed 46-40 at the 11:20 mark after a Bane 3-pointer.

The two teams traded baskets out of the timeout, including a fourth straight by Sneed, but the momentum shifted on the next possession, as yet another Bane 3-pointer ignited a 15-1 run by the Horned Frogs over the next 5:12 that propelled them to a 66-53 advantage with 1:18 to play.

Both teams connected on 23 made field goals in the contest, but TCU’s 15 made 3-pointers proved to be difference, as K-State made just 2 of 12 attempts from long range. For the game, the Horned Frogs connected on 44.2 percent (23-of-52) from the field, including 45.5 percent (15-of-33) from 3-point range, while the Wildcats hit on 42.6 percent (23-of-54) of their field goals, including 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from long range.

Bane led three TCU players in double figures with a game-high 17 points on 6-of-14 field goals, including 5-of-10 from 3-point range, to go with a game-high 8 assists, 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots, while Grayer and sophomore R.J. Nembhard added 15 points each.

Sneed paced the Wildcats with 15 points on 6-of-12 field goals, while juniors David Sloan and Cartier Diarra added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Senior Makol Mawien grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds.

With the win, the Horned Frogs swept the season series for the first time in the Big 12 era after the Wildcats swept 4 of the first 7 regular-season series between the teams.

K-State’s current 5-game losing streak ties for the longest of the Bruce Weber era (Jan. 27 to Feb. 11, 2015).

HOW IT HAPPENED
K-State was hampered by another slow start, as TCU jumped out to a 9-2 lead, including 7 straight points, which forced head coach Bruce Weber to call his first timeout at the 15:00 mark. Led by senior Desmond Bane’s 5 points, the Horned Frogs connected on 4 of first 8 field goals, while the Wildcats hit on just 1 of their first 6 shots.

The Wildcats closed to within 15-12 on a jumper by senior Makol Mawien nearly midway point of the first half, but freshman Francisco Farabello nailed the Horned Frogs’ fourth 3-pointer to push it back out to 18-12 near the third media timeout. A sixth triple by the Frogs and the third by Grayer made it 24-14 at the 5:29 mark.

Jumpers by Mawien and senior Xavier Sneed ignited a 13-0 run by K-State over a 4-minute stretch that forced head coach Jaime Dixon to call his second timeout with the Wildcats ahead 27-24 with 1:23 to play. Four different players contributed in the 13-0 run, including 5 points from junior David Sloan, who gave the team their first lead at 25-24 on a jumper at the 2:14 mark.

The timeout allowed Dixon to get starters Bane and sophomore Kevin Samuel back in the game, as a dunk by Samuel ended the drought and closed the Frogs to within 27-26, which was where it stood at halftime.

TCU hit on a slightly better field goal percentage (41.7/10-of-24) in the first half with 6 of its 10 field goals coming from long range, including 3 from Grayer, who led both teams with 9 points at the break. K-State rebounded from its poor start to hit on 40 percent (12-of-30) from the break. Sloan led the Wildcats with 7 points on 3-of-6 shooting, while Diarra had 6 points off the bench.

The second half started much like the first half with TCU scoring 5 quick points, including a 3-pointer by sophomore R.J. Nembhard from the corner, to give the Frogs a 31-27 lead just over a minute into the half. K-State responded with a 5-0 run to take a 32-31 on the second of back-to-back jumpers by Diarra, but Nembhard connected on his second triple in the half to help TCU regain the lead at 34-32 at the first media timeout of the half.

The teams exchanged 3-pointers over the next few possessions before a dunk by Nembhard and a third triple by Bane gave the Frogs a 46-40 lead and force Weber to call a timeout at the 11:15 mark.

The timeout worked for K-State, as the team scored 8 consecutive points to take a 48-46 advantage on the second of back-to-back jumpers by Sneed with 9:10 remaining. After a Grayer jumper, Sneed connected on a third straight field goal to give the Wildcats another lead at 50-48 and forced Dixon to take a timeout with 8:09 to play.

The timeout worked for TCU, as the Horned Frogs erupted for a 13-2 run over the next 4:44, which included a stretch of 10 consecutive points and 3-pointers by Bane and Grayer, to take a 61-52 advantage into the final media timeout with 3:26 remaining. A free throw by freshman Antonio Gordon out of the timeout ended the 10-0 run, but TCU scored 7 of the last 11 points to finish off the 68-57 win.

The Horned Frogs connected on 46.4 percent (13-of-28) from the field in the second half, including 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from 3-point range, while the Wildcats hit on 45.8 percent (11-of-24) after halftime, but just 28.6 percent (2-of-7) from long range.

Nembhard led all scorers in the second half with 13 points on 4-of-7 field goals, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, while Bane added 12 points on 4-of-9 field goals with all 4 coming from long range. Sneed paced the Wildcats with 11 points after halftime on 4-of-7 shooting.

PLAYER(S) OF THE GAME
Senior Xavier Sneed scored a team-high 15 points (with 11 coming after halftime) on 6-of-12 field goals in 33 minutes. He has now led the Wildcats in scoring in 25 career games, including 9 this season. It marked his team-high 19th double-digit scoring game of the season and 72nd in his career.

Junior David Sloan provided a spark in his seventh start of the season with 11 points on 5-of-11 field goals to go with team-highs in assists (3) and steals (3) in 31 minutes.

STAT OF THE GAME
15 – TCU tied an opponent school-record high with 15 made 3-pointers on 33 attempts. It marked the most 3-pointers allowed by the Wildcats since Saint Louis hit on 15 on Jan. 3, 2004.

IN THEIR WORDS
K-State Head Coach Bruce Weber
On the game…
“A credit to TCU. They made those 15 3-pointers and several of them were really, hard shots at the end of the shot clock. And I thought we played good defense most of the game. Someone asked me the other day if this team was cursed (with all bad breaks) and it made me think, but at the end of the day, you make your own luck and that’s the game. It’s how you treat the game, how you love it, how you play it, how you practice it and that’s how you make your own luck. It’s all we can continue to do is to keep trying, keep battling, keep getting better and see if we can make some strides. Honestly, I thought that was the hardest we had played in a while. We continued to battle and compete and didn’t quit even after the early deficit.”

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• K-State’s 5-game losing streak ties for the longest of the Bruce Weber era (Jan. 27 to Feb. 11, 2015).
• K-State still leads the all-time series, 16-8, with TCU, including 6-3 in Fort Worth… The Horned Frogs swept the regular season series for the first time in the Big 12 era.
• The Wildcats’ starting lineup consisted of junior David Sloan, freshman DaJuan Gordon, senior Xavier Sneed, freshman Montavious Murphy and senior Makol Mawien… This was the fifth time using this lineup and remains the sixth different lineup used this season.
• Sneed has now played in 130 career games, including 97 starts (58 consecutive)… He is now tied with Martavious Irving (130/2009-13) for eighth place on the all-time games played list… He is also 5 starts shy of cracking the career starts list… He is now in eighth place on all-time minutes played list with 3,616.
• Mawien has played and started in every game in his career, which now stretches to 96… Murphy earned his 15th start (most among all K-State freshmen) and has now played in 18 career games (missing 7 due to injury)… Gordon made his eighth career start and has played in all 25 games this season.
• Gordon and Murphy start together for the eighth time (seventh consecutive) this season… The last time a pair of true freshmen started together in more than one game came when Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade started the last 9 games of the 2015-16 season.
• Juniors Cartier Diarra and Levi Stockard III were the first player off the bench.

Team Notes

• The 15 made 3-point field goals by TCU tied for the most by an opponent in school history, matching the mark originally set by Missouri on Feb. 28, 1998 and tied by Saint Louis on Jan. 3, 2004. It was also the most allowed in the Bruce Weber era, eclipsing the 14 by Iowa State on Feb. 16, 2019.
• K-State has allowed 5 consecutive opponents to shoot at least 42 percent or better from the field.
• K-State was held below 60 points for sixth time this season, as the Wildcats scored 57 points on 42.6 percent shooting (23-of-54), including 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from 3-point range, made just 9 of 16 free throw attempts (56.3 percent).
• K-State managed just 8 turnovers, which marked just the third game with single-digit turnovers.
• K-State forced TCU into 14 turnovers, scoring 19 points off those miscues.
• K-State held advantages in every special category, including points off turnovers (19-6), points in the paint (22-14), second-chance points (9-6), fast-break points (11-9) and bench points (20-11).
• TCU led for more 34 minutes (34:42) compared to just under 4 (3:51) for K-State… During the current 5-game losing streak, the Wildcats have led for less than 17 minutes (out of 200 total minutes).

Player Notes

• Senior Xavier Sneed scored a team-high 15 points on 6-of-12 field goals, including 0-of-4 from 3-point range, and a 3-of-8 effort from the free throw line with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in 33 minutes… It marked the 25th time in his career leading the team in scoring, including the 10th time this season… He has now scored in double figures in 72 career games, including 19 this season.
• With his 15-point effort, Sneed tied Chuckie Williams (1,364/1972-76) for 11th place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,364 points… He is one of four Bruce Weber era players in the Top 11.
• Junior David Sloan scored 11 points on 5-of-11 field goals and 1-of-2 free throws to go with team-highs in assists (3) and steals (3) in 31 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 3 games this season with all 3 coming in Big 12 play… He has now led the team in assists in 9 games and in steals in 4 games.
• Junior Cartier Diarra scored 10 points on 4-of-7 field goals, including 0-of-3 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 free throws to go with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 26 minutes… He has now scored in double figures in 34 career games, including 17 this season.
• Senior Makol Mawien corralled a game-high 9 rebounds to go with 6 points in 25 minutes… He has now led the team in rebounding in 23 career games, including 8 this season… He has at least 6 rebounds in 6 of the last 7 games.

WHAT’S NEXT
K-State returns to action on Wednesday night, as the Wildcats conclude their 2-game road swing with a trip to Lubbock, Texas to take on No. 24/24 Texas Tech (16-9, 7-5 Big 12) at 8 p.m., CT on ESPN2. The Red Raiders won the first meeting, 77-63, at Bramlage Coliseum on Jan. 14.