MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Our old friend Jamie Dixon returns to the WVU Coliseum on Tuesday night with his TCU Horned Frogs riding high on a four-game winning streak since their eight-point loss to Xavier on Dec. 22.
 
After falling to the Musketeers, TCU (12-3, 3-0) has defeated George Mason and then Iowa State, Kansas State and Oklahoma State in Big 12 play to join fourth-ranked Baylor at the top of the league standings at 3-0.
 
Dixon, a frequent Coliseum visitor from his days as coach at Pitt, led TCU to two-point wins over Iowa State and Kansas State before last Saturday's 12-point victory against Oklahoma State in Fort Worth where TCU limited the struggling Cowboys to just 30.2 percent from the floor.
 
Guard Desmond Bane has been Dixon's big gun this year. The outstanding 6-foot-6 senior is averaging 17.1 points per game and shooting 44.2 percent from 3-point distance while also hauling down seven boards per contest.
 
That's a pretty impressive trifecta.
 
"He's one of the elite players in the league," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "He's a really good player."
 
Bane has made 42 of the 95 triples he's taken this year to pace a Horned Frog offense that has tried 105 more 3s than their opponents. TCU is taking roughly five more 3s per game than it did last year and is connecting on 36.8 percent of them so far this season.
 
"They're making shots," Huggins said. "They do a great job of spreading you because (Dixon) puts four guys on the floor that can really make shots.
 
"He's kind of built everything around the 3, and they really spread you out," Huggins added.
 
Defending the 3 has been one of West Virginia's strengths this year, however, as the Mountaineers are limiting opponents to just 23.3 percent from behind the arc.
 
During this past Saturday's 12-point win over No. 23 Texas Tech in Morgantown, the Red Raiders only got six of their 28 triples to go down. Last Monday, Oklahoma State made just 1-of-20 from behind the arc while No. 6 Kansas was successful on only 3-of-17 two days prior.
 
TCU's Francisco Farabello, a 6-2 guard from Argentina, is shooting a team-best 45.7 percent from 3-point distance while Jaire Grayer, a 6-foot-5 senior guard from Flint, Michigan, is also making better than 40 percent of the 61 triples he's taken so far this year.
 
TCU is forcing teams to turn the ball over 16.8 times per game this year, which could be problematic for a West Virginia team that has committed 74 turnovers in its last four games and continues to lead the Big 12 with an average of 15.4 turnovers per contest.
 
A two-point losses to Clemson and USC separate TCU from a 14-1 record and a spot in this week's Associated Press Top 25, where West Virginia currently sits at No. 12 following its wins last week against Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.
 
WVU got 22 points off the bench from Big 12 Newcomer of the Week Miles McBride and 17 rebounds from fellow freshman Oscar Tshiebwe against the Red Raiders.
 
McBride and sophomore guard Brandon Knapper were the only two Mountaineer players to make second-half field goals in Saturday's victory.
 
McBride has scored double figures in six straight games to boost his average to 10.1 points per contest. He's one of three Mountaineer players now averaging double figures joining Tshiebwe (11.9 ppg) and sophomore Derek Culver (10.3 ppg).
 
With Tshiebwe, Culver, 6-foot-11 senior center Logan Routt, 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Emmitt Matthews Jr.  and 6-foot-7 junior forward Gabe Osabuohien, West Virginia should have a significant size advantage over the Horned Frogs, although 6-foot-11 sophomore center Kevin Samuel shows averages of 10.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game for the Horned Frogs.
 
Jaedon Ledee, a 6-foot-9, 235-pound sophomore from Houston, comes off the bench to give TCU 2.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
 


"(Either Tshiebwe or Culver) is going to guard Samuel, it's just a matter of who we put the other one on … and Derek has done a really good job on the perimeter," Huggins noted.
 
Despite leading the Big 12 and ranking among the top teams in the country in field goal percentage defense, Huggins believes there is still room for growth on the defensive end of the floor.
 
He said rotations can be better.
 
"We're rotating, but it's kind of like I heard Lou Holtz say one time. He said 'Billy Ray Smith wasn't an All-American because he didn't get knocked down, he was an All-American because he didn't stay down. He got up, took the shortest route to the ball carrier and arrived in a bad mood.' We've got to take the shorter route to people and be a little more aggressive when we get there."
 
The Mountaineers (13-2, 2-1) are seeking to pin a loss on TCU and also keep undefeated Baylor within sight in the conference race. The Bears now have a leg up on everybody with impressive early-season road wins at Texas Tech and Kansas.
 
Tuesday night's game will tip off at 9 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU (Rich Hollenberg and King McClure).
 
Radio coverage on MSN from Learfield IMG College will begin at 8 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday.
 
Tickets still remain for Tuesday night's game and can be purchased by visiting WVUGAME.com.