The regular season is complete and it could not have gone any better for the Kansas State Wildcats. An 18-game grind of Big 12 games concluded in a 14-4 record in conference play, which was good enough to tie Texas Tech for first place in the Big 12 and, of course, end Kansas’ 14-year streak of winning the conference. There are new kings of the castle. While the regular season title is regarded by most as the more meaningful of the championships, now all ten teams are competing at Kansas City’s Sprint Center for the Big 12 Tournament Championship. For K-State, it’d be the first one since 1980 for the program. Needless to say, there’s a lot on the line. K-State’s attempt at a run through the Big 12 Tournament begins today against the TCU Horned Frogs, a team that the Wildcats bested twice this year. That being said, Jamie Dixon’s squad can be expected to put up a big fight, as it does in most games. We’ll see how K-State responds. Here’s three questions, two players to watch and one observation leading up to tonight’s game against the Horned Frogs.<doc-sep>Kansas State started slowly, while Texas Christian made its first three three-point attempts to open an early 9-5 lead in the teams’ quarterfinal match-up at the Big 12 basketball tournament at Sprint Center. The Horned Frogs would eventually stretch their lead to 23-11. But behind K-State’s usual defensive pressure and some unusual offensive production off the bench, K-State reeled in the Horned Frogs, took a lead 42-39 with just under fifteen minutes to play on a three-point bucket by Kamau Stokes, and led the rest of the way to a 70-61 victory. Defense keyed the comeback, as K-State (25-7) forced 18 turnovers and scored often in transition. The Wildcats also got production off the bench, with Cartier Diarra returning to action after missing eight games with a broken ring finger to play 29 minutes and score eight points. Levi Stockard played an unexpected hero’s role, too, dropping in a career-high eight first half points of his own to keep K-State in the game when TCU was threatening to pull away. TCU (20-13) led 34-32 at halftime and actually extended its lead to 39-34 after the break. But the Horned Frogs could only manage a single basket during a 17-2 K-State scoring run that gave the league co-champions a 51-41 lead. TCU did not go down without a fight, however, getting back to within three points, 53-50, with over five minutes to play. Behind Stokes and Xavier Sneed, K-State stretched the lead back to nine, 63-54, but three stagnant offensive possessions allowed the Frogs to again cut the margin to three points, 63-60, with under two minutes to play. Sneed calmly connected on a clutch three-pointer and two free throws to seal the game for K-State. Sneed led the Wildcats with 19 points on 6-12 shooting, including 4-8 from beyond the three-point arc. He also had five assists and seven rebounds. Not only did Sneed score his season high, but he hit big shots when they were needed most. More on this, later. Barry Brown Jr. scored 12, but continued his shooting struggles, managing to make only 5-of-17 shots, including 2-7 from outside. Brown had six assists, offset by three turnovers. He played his usual stellar role on the defensive end, however, and was a major contributor in forcing TCU point guard Alex Robinson into six turnovers on the day. Stokes had 11 points, and Makol Mawien added 10 to round out the double-digit scorers for K-State. Diarra and Stockard finished with eight points each. TCU was led by Desmond Bane’s 16. Alex Robinson scored 12, and Kevin Samuel dropped in 11 for the Frogs. Having advanced in the bracket, the Wildcats will play a semi-final contest against Iowa State, who looked impressive in crushing Baylor, 83-66, in today’s early game. The game will tip at 6:00 Friday evening. What we Learned<doc-sep>
​The major conference tournaments are officially underway and the second round of the ​Big 12 Tournament will feature some high-stakes matchups. Top-seeded Kansas State will be taking on No. 8 ​TCU, who advanced after defeating Oklahoma State in the first round of the tournament by a narrow margin. How to Live Stream the Game The matchup will tip-off at 2:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2. The game will also be available to stream on the WatchESPN app and Reddit's ​NCAA Basketball Streams subreddit via this ​direct link. THURSDAY'S BIG 12 TOURNAMENT GAMES: Kansas State/TCU Iowa State/Baylor Texas Tech/West Virginia Kansas/Texas — Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 14, 2019 ​Kansas State earned the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 for the first time since 2013 when they tied with Kansas for the top spot with a 14-4 record. This year, the Wildcats shared the top spot with Texas Tech. Kansas State took down TCU in both of their matchups during the regular season and are hoping to make quick work of the Horned Frogs on Thursday afternoon. BIG road W in the Big 12 race! No. 18 Kansas State takes a huge leap towards the Big 12 title with the win at TCU! pic.twitter.com/Zx5K51GhZs — NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 5, 2019 TCU went 7-11 in conference play and were led in scoring by guard Desmond Bane, who averaged 15.2 points on 49.7 percent shooting from the field. Kansas State's top offensive option is Barry Brown Jr., who is averaging 15.1 points while shooting at a 44.6 percent clip from the field. Kansas State has never won the Big 12 Tournament but will be vying for their opportunity to make program history, and that all starts with their performance on Thursday against the Horned Frogs.