TCU’s Robinson motivated by comment during Iowa win

Among the myriad reasons for inspiration in his double-double performance against Iowa, TCU guard Alex Robinson cited a pregame comment from Hawkeyes’ guard Peter Jok.

Robinson, who posted a team-high 19 points and dished out a career-high 11 assists in TCU’s 94-92 overtime victory, stepped up with what coach Jamie Dixon described as his best game of the season in lifting the Horned Frogs (21-15) to victory without injured point guard Jaylen Fisher (broken wrist). Robinson, a sophomore from Mansfield Timberview, said his biggest focus was on defense. TCU forced 17 turnovers by Iowa, eighth more than the Frogs committed (9).

“We wanted to make sure we played defense,” Robinson said. “I saw Jok made a comment that the Big 12 is all about offense and the Big Ten is about defense. Well, that’s not the case. Especially not for us. We emphasize defense and knew that if we got stops, we could be on the attack.”

Asked if Jok might have been referring to football instead of basketball, Robinson smiled.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Robinson said. “I was like, he can’t talk about that. Not in basketball.”

The Frogs’ victory allows them to advance to Tuesday’s game against Richmond (6 p.m., Schollmaier Arena), with the winner moving on to the NIT semifinals in New York.

Robinson said the Frogs reached a new level of confidence with their 85-82 upset of top-ranked Kansas during the Big 12 tournament.

“I think when we beat Kansas, that was a turning point for our program,” Robinson said. “And it’s showing now.”

This story was originally published March 20, 2017 at 9:27 AM with the headline "TCU’s Robinson motivated by comment during Iowa win."