NIT rings were the shiniest part of TCU basketball opener

Well, that was disconcerting.

TCU might have expected to open the basketball season in breezy fashion Friday night, playing a nine-win Louisiana Monroe team that is, of course, nowhere in the Horned Frogs’ league.

And you couldn’t have blamed the Frogs.

The last time they played, they capped a five-game postseason winning streak with an NIT championship. They were presented their rings in a pregame ceremony. It was coach Jamie Dixon’s birthday.

The feel-goods were everywhere.

Then the game started, and TCU missed four of its first five shots, got Alex Robinson in foul trouble, nearly trailed at halftime and watched sixth-man guard Desmond Bane leave the court with a leg cramp in the opening minutes of the second half, all the while ULM was raining 3s.

Is this how NCAA Tournament hopefuls open a season?

“It was an ugly win, but we got the job done,” said Kenrich Williams, who had 13 points, 14 rebounds and a game-high seven assists. “We just came out real lackadaisical for the first game. We weren’t getting stops. But it feels good to get a win, so we’re 1-0.”

However the night started for the Frogs, it ended the right way in an 83-73 victory. Vladimir Brodziansky, the Big 12’s fourth-most accurate shooter a year ago, had 16 points on typical 8-of-11 shooting. Australian forward Kouat Noi, playing his first Division I game after redshirting last season, had 12 points and eight rebounds.

ULM was 9-24 last season, going 2-16 in the Sun Belt Conference, and picked 12th in its league this year.

But for a half and a half, the Warhawks ran with the Frogs, dunked with them and hit twice as many 3s as them.

It took Bane’s fastbreak layup to give the Frogs breathing room at 76-67 with 4:24 left. The Frogs still needed Brodziansky’s dunk off Alex Robinson’s pass to push the lead back to 80-73 with 1:54 left.

“They were more physical than we had seen on film. They banged us around,” Dixon said of ULM. “Don’t want to take anything away from them, but we’re a better team than we showed tonight.”

And perhaps distracted by the pregame festivities?

Dixon shrugged it off.

“I thought our practices weren’t as good the last two days, which I was surprised by,” he said. “Just were not as on point.”

A bigger distraction likely turned out to be missed shots. There were a lot early and from all distances. Williams was 5-for-14 and starting guards Robinson and Jaylen Fisher were a combined 6-for-17.

“Missed some layups, missed some 3s. We got focused on that rather than the defensive end,” Dixon said.

The defensive end is where all teams earn their rings. It’s why Dixon and athletic director Chris Del Conte were handing some out Monday night.

“We could have done a better job defending,” Dixon said. “Hopefully this was a good learning lesson for us in that regard. We’re not there yet. We’ve got work to do.”

This story was originally published November 10, 2017 at 10:37 PM with the headline "NIT rings were the shiniest part of TCU basketball opener."