TCU 64, West Virginia 70: Frogs fall in regular season finale

TCU Basketball fell to West Virginia 70-64 in their final game of the regular season, finishing with a 19-11 overall record and 8-10 record in conference play.

In the grand scheme of things, this loss doesn’t change much for the Frogs as they still finish 5th in the conference and should have an NCAA tournament bid locked up, but it would have been nice to close out the year on a high note. With the loss, TCU moves to 0-10 all-time when playing in Morgantown.

The Frogs got off to a familiar slow start, going down by as much as 11 points early in the first half, but eventually shots started falling. It was a game of ebbs and flows as every time it seemed like the Frogs fought back in it, the Mountaineers would march down the court and hit four-straight shots.

It wasn’t until 9:44 remaining in the 2nd half that TCU took their first lead of the ballgame. From there on out, it was nothing but missed shots and bad decisions for the Frogs. TCU finished with 18 turnovers, a lot of which came in the late stages of the game.

The Frogs were looking solid, holding onto a 59-53 lead with just over six minutes remaining, but it was short-lived. The Mountaineers went on an 11-1 run over the next five minutes of game time and the Frogs missed five of their last six shots to essentially ice themselves out of the game.

As of late, the Frogs have done a phenomenal job of rebounding, but the Mountaineers won the rebound battle today 33-29 which proved to be a major factor.

Aside from a frustrating end to the game, there were a few positive personal performances. Mike Miles got back on track after a rough go in Lawrence by dropping 17 points on 7-15 shooting. Damion Baugh and Micah Peavy were also big factors in keeping this game close, as both guards dropped 12 points. Baugh also finished with 7 rebounds and 6 assists while Peavy racked up 6 boards, 3 of which were offensive.

Holding on to late-game leads has been a struggle for this group all season, and just when it seemed like the Frogs had it figured out, they drop a very winnable game. On the bright side, maybe it’s best to get these kinds of losses out of the way now and save the late-game magic for a March Madness cinderella run.

The Frogs will get a short break this week before they’re back in action for the Big 12 Tournament. As things stand, TCU is slotted to face Texas in the first round on Thursday, March 10 at 11:30 a.m.