Texas 70, TCU 55: Frogs fade down the stretch on the road

For a while, it looked like TCU Basketball was going to stay in it with #13 Texas on the road in Austin.

Within just a handful of the Horns for most of the first half, poor shooting doomed the Frogs when they needed it most. Trailing by eight at the half after shooting just 32% from the field, the Frogs stayed close with five three pointers but got just 19 points from eight players outside of RJ Nembhard’s 10.

In his return from a non-COVID illness earlier this week, Mike Miles seemed to still suffer from fatigue, scoring just two in the first half before heating up some in the second. He finished the game with 10 on 4-13 shooting with three rebounds and two assists. After his breakout game against Iowa State, Kevin Samuel was held to just three points on three shots with three rebounds, as the size and length of the Texas frontcourt was able to shut the Horned Frogs’ center down. Getting Samuel involved has been the key to success for TCU lately, and not focusing on the interior game was a big part of the Horned Frogs’ problem Saturday. Texas scored 32 points in the paint to TCU’s 16, and turned the Frogs’ 15 turnovers into 19 points.

TCU cut the lead to as few to two in the second half, and had a chance to tie the game or take the lead near the eight minute mark when Mike Miles was fouled ahead of a shooting attempt. But the Frogs turned it over on consecutive possessions, both of which Texas scored on, and the Horns were able to pull away from there. A 5:40 scoreless stretch led to an 11-0 Texas run, and it was over from there.

Texas shot around 50% for both halves, finishing at 49.1% from the field and 6-21 from three. TCU actually out-performed UT from the free throw line, 10-8 as both teams made it to the line 13 times. Texas made nine more shots from the floor while the Frogs made one more three pointer.

The Longhorns had four players in double-figures, led by Andrew Jones’ 19. Matt Coleman had 15, Greg Brown had 13/6, and Jericho Sims 11/8. Nembhard led the Frogs with 5 rebounds, as the team had just 23 total after collecting 51 boards earlier this week. Texas had 37. Nembhard (15) and Miles (10) were the only TCU players in double-digits.

“I didn’t like what we did offensively and I didn’t like what we did defensively,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said after the game. “You’d think coming off back-to-back wins with better execution, but we didn’t.” TCU is now 0-5 against ranked opponents, and faces down back to back games against #7 Texas Tech, starting with a home game Monday night.