Sharper TCU sees its NCAA tournament chances improving

Shooting 50 percent, TCU ended a four-game losing streak on Wednesday night at Kansas State and boosted its postseason chances.

None of that is unrelated.

“Making some shots early made the whole difference,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “I would say it’s the elephant in the room, but it’s been out there so long. Everybody’s been talking about it, what we were shooting in those games.”

For two weeks, TCU shot 41.7 percent in a four-game losing streak that knocked them down to bubble status for the NCAA Tournament. At K-State on Wednesday night, the Frogs made 31 of 62 shots in winning for the first time in Manhattan since 1999.

“The missed shots have just weighed on us,” Dixon said.

The 3-point touch also came back for the Frogs. They made 10 of 17 shots from long range, their most 3-pointers in a Big 12 game this season and their first time shooting 3s better than 50 percent in a conference game this season.

J.D. Miller went 4-for-5 on 3-pointers in matching his season high with 18 points.

“A four-game stretch where we shot that badly from 3, we were looking at it — usually it’s bad shots or taking bad 3s,” Dixon said. “But we couldn’t believe the shots. We haven’t gotten fouled on a 3-point shot in recent games because we were so wide open.”

The Frogs actually have shot the ball well in the past two games. They were at 50.8 percent against Auburn, but that game got away late with a massive Tigers’ run.

“We let the last couple of games slip away from our hands, so this was a much needed-win,” said guard Kenrich Williams, who was 3-for-4 on 3-pointers. “It’ll be much easier for us with the confidence we have moving forward.”

TCU (15-7, 4-5) can take that confidence into a home game against Texas on Saturday with a chance to sweep the season series and continue building a postseason rèsumè.

“We just beat an NCAA tournament team on the road,” Dixon said when asked if the Frogs need a “signature” win to enhance their case. “Those are good, quality wins. One win doesn’t do anything for you. We’re establishing a program, a mentality. That was responding to adversity right there — a road win against an NCAA tournament team after four losses says a lot.”

The Frogs close the regular season with five of nine at home. Winning out at home would get them to 20 wins.

“We’re in position to do some things here and hopefully get better,” Dixon said. “We need today to get better. We can’t take a step backward.”

Not with a tournament-or-bust mentality. The Frogs have talked about it all season. They are not shying away from it now.

“Our main goal is to make the tournament,” Williams said. “If we don’t make the tournament, it’s a bust. That’s how I look at it. The tournament is very important to us. It’s been since 1998. This is what we want. We want to make the NCAA tournament.

“Nothing short of that.”

This story was originally published February 2, 2017 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Sharper TCU sees its NCAA tournament chances improving."