ALBUQUERQUE -- However much improved the TCU Horned Frogs are from a year ago, they still can't afford to play error-prone basketball, especially on the road.
Not against New Mexico at the Pit.The Lobos pulled away in the final four minutes to win 71-54 Saturday evening in front of 15,212 in attendance.TCU (12-8, 2-3 Mountain West Conference) trailed by six points with nine minutes remaining after J.R. Cadot's dunk on a pass from Hank Thorns. The Frogs were in the game despite a horrible night from the free-throw line and their most turnovers in a non-overtime game since Dec. 19.Then the Lobos (17-4, 3-2) quickly pushed their lead to 12, behind a 3-pointer from Jamal Fenton and a 3-point play by Kendall Williams. The Lobos outscored the Frogs 20-9 the rest of the way. Tony Snell led the Lobos with 10 of his game-high 18 points in the second half.The Frogs' unforced mistakes, including most of their 17 turnovers, and nine missed free throws, had as much to do with the 17-point loss as anything New Mexico did."We just started turning the ball over too much," said Cadot, who committed four of the 17 turnovers. "Playing a team in their home gym you can't do that."Cadot scored 15 points, but had five of TCU's nine missed free throws. Although the game was out of reach in the final few minutes, a few early free throws could have changed the mood of the crowd and potentially altered the Lobos' offense.Instead, New Mexico, which received a vote in the current coaches' poll, was able to relax. The Lobos scored 23 points off TCU turnovers, outscored the Frogs 13-0 on second-chance shots, and led 36-27 in rebounds, including a 10-3 advantage on the offensive boards. Cadot led TCU with nine boards, but no other Frog had more than three."They're a good team, that's how they score; they do it to everybody," TCU coach Jim Christian said. "We had our chances, but we didn't play very smart. A lot of the [turnovers] were decisions with the basketball. For the most part we did a good job on transition defense, but at a couple key stretches we gave them easy layups."After cutting the lead to six, the Frogs' offense went cold just as the Lobos were heating up. Adrick McKinney and Craig Williams combined for three points on 1 for 4 shooting. Garlon Green and Nate Butler were a combined 2 of 10 from the field. Green has struggled offensively in league play since scoring 14 in the opener. Since, he is 5 of 26."He's not taking bad shots, he's just not making many," Christian said. "He'll come out of it. He's got to try to keep knocking shots down."Amric Fields led the Frogs with 16 points, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. His 3 cut the deficit to 10 with 3:49 left but turnovers limited the Frogs' offensive chances the rest of the way.Stefan Stevenson 817-390-7760Twitter: @FollowtheFrogs
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