Texas Tech 81, TCU 66: Welp

Well that was a rough one. It figured to be an uphill battle for shorthanded TCU as they hosted No. 11 Texas Tech on Saturday, and the Frogs fell 81-66.

JD Miller led TCU with 18 points to go with eight rebounds. Alex Robinson scored 17 points (15 in the second half) and Kouat Noi added 15 points. No other Frogs scored in double-digits, and TCU shot just 38.7% from the floor in the loss.

Meanwhile, Texas Tech shot 56.9% from the floor and 38.1% from three as they move to 23-5 on the year. Five Red Raiders scored in double figures as a very balanced attack and great ball movement doomed the Frogs.

The first half indicated that this would be a blowout, with Texas Tech rolling out to a 39-19 lead and looking like they could do no wrong. The Red Raiders shot close to 60% from the floor in the half while TCU shot under 30%, and they outrebounded the Frogs 20-13.

Kouat Noi did his best to keep the Frogs in it, going on a personal 8-0 run at one point, but the Frogs trailed 43-25 at halftime.

The Frogs came out of the half looking like they were on a mission. Kouat Noi and Alex Robinson took TCU on a 10-0 run to open the half and cut Texas Tech’s lead to 43-35. The Frogs continued to battle over the next several minutes, getting as close as 46-39 thanks to a dunk from Kevin Samuel at the 15:43 mark.

Texas Tech responded with another offensive push as TCU’s scoring dried up, and before anyone knew it the Frogs trailed 77-57 and the game was effectively over.

TCU has two games left: one at home against Kansas State, and one on the road against Texas. They’ll probably need to win both and get a win or two in the Big 12 Tournament to earn an NCAA Tournament berth at this point.