TCU suffers first loss under Dixon as SMU rolls 74-59

TCU’s quest to extend the perfect start to the Horned Frogs’ debut season under men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon ran into the perfect storm Wednesday night at Moody Coliseum.

A strong performance by SMU forward Semi Ojeleye, who scored a game-high 23 points, and a loud dose of Moody Madness from a raucous crowd took its toll on the Horned Frogs. SMU eventually pulled away to a 74-59 victory, ending TCU’s eight-game winning streak to begin Dixon’s inaugural season at his alma mater.

Ojeleye, a transfer from Duke, did most of his damage inside and at the foul line (7-of-8 on free throws), while the Horned Frogs (8-1) forced a season-low five turnovers from the Mustangs (7-3) in front of announced crowd of 6,997 (capacity: 7,000).

For Dixon, the contest proved eye-opening on several fronts as the Horned Frogs were outrebounded 34-31 and struggled to get into an offensive rhythm while shooting just 42.6 percent from the field (23-of-54). TCU led only once, 3-1, and that advantage disappeared within 12 seconds. SMU never trailed again.

“We got what we deserved,” Dixon said. “They outplayed us and they deserved to win. We just didn’t execute. I don’t know if that was the hostile environment or not. But we looked like we didn’t know what we were doing offensively.”

It did not help that two TCU starters, point guard Jaylen Fisher and guard/forward Kenrich Williams, battled foul trouble for much of the contest. Williams (8 points, 13 rebounds) fouled out on a night when the Mustangs made 23-of-30 from the foul line while the Frogs were only 7-of-12 from the charity stripe.

But Dixon did not dispute the disparity in free throw attempts because he witnessed a disparity on the aggression front that alarmed him.

“We were all in foul trouble but that’s how we played. We put ourselves in that position,” Dixon said. “They’re big, they’re strong, they’re older. They were the far more aggressive team, the far more physical team. I didn’t think we were aggressive enough going after the ball. We just did not seem like we knew what we wanted to do, offensively and defensively.”

SMU, meanwhile, executed a game plan that included large doses of Ojeleye inside (23 points, 7 inside) and timely strikes from guard Shake Milton from beyond the arc (17 points, 3-of-6 from long range). A turnover-prone team in earlier games, SMU had only five.

After cutting an early 19-8 deficit to 33-28 by halftime, TCU had opportunities to make the Mustangs sweat in the first 14 minutes of the second half behind guard Alex Robinson (12 points, career-high 10 assists) and forward Vladimir Brodzianksy (12 points), who has made his last 13 shots from the field dating to the Washington game on Nov. 30.

But the Frogs never crept closer than three points and SMU put the game away with a 17-8 surge over the final 5:40 to hand the Frogs their first loss of the season.

“I think they learned from some of their losses,” Dixon said. “It’s our first loss. Now, we’ve got an opportunity for us to learn from it and do something about it.”

This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 10:35 PM with the headline "TCU suffers first loss under Dixon as SMU rolls 74-59."