TCU men’s basketball continues to struggle with lack of depth

With only one win in its first five Big 12 games, TCU finds itself at the bottom of the league.

Climbing out is going to be made harder by a lack of manpower.

The Horned Frogs played both Baylor and Kansas with a nine-man roster last week and potentially could again Monday night against Texas Tech.

Sophomore guard Malique Trent was unavailable for either game last week because of a violation of team rules, and reserve guard Dalton Dry has missed seven games recovering from mononucleosis.

Trent averaged 11.7 points in his first 15 games, all starts. TCU has not announced when he will be available.

But a short roster is nothing new for coach Trent Johnson at TCU. Injuries have cost him significant playing time from some of his top players, such as Amric Fields two years ago. Last year, Devonta Abron spent much of the year recovering from injury. This year, Kenrich Williams is out for the season recovering from knee surgery. Chris Washburn missed the first 11 games with a hand injury.

“Seems like it’s been like that for 2  1/2, three years,” Johnson said last week. “Everybody deals with it in college basketball and college sports.”

Chauncey Collins moved into Trent’s position in the lineup the past two games. He had been backing up point guard Mike Williams.

“There’s a lot of guys that can go forth and play,” Johnson said. “Everybody wants to play. Guys are going to have opportunities to play. It’s my responsibility to put them in the best possible situation for them where they can have success.”

Trent played last season at New Mexico Junior College, earning national junior college player of the year honors after averaging 15.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists. With the Horned Frogs, he is averaging 11.7 points (now the team high), 2.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists.

This story was originally published January 17, 2016 at 4:35 PM with the headline "TCU men’s basketball continues to struggle with lack of depth."