Three takeaways from TCU’s Big 12 men’s basketball game against Arizona State
A dust-up near ASU’s bench in the second half seemed to propel the Horned Frogs to a 90-78 victory over their Big 12 foe at Schollmaier arena on Tuesday in what was a crucial win.
After Sun Devil players took the ball from Brock Harding after trapping the guard and forcing a timeout, TCU and ASU players got into a scrap near ASU’s bench. And the only player sanctioned was TCU’s Malick Diallo, who was ejected for coming off the bench.
The affair seemed to energize the Horned Frogs, who subsequently went on a 30-18 run to take control of a game that had been close throughout the first half.
Head coach Jamie Dixon said it was more focus than passion that helped the TCU after the dust up.
“It’s how you recover, we really talked about they’re going to call tight, don’t say a word. That’s always the case in a situation like that. So it’s how you handle the after, and I think it’s more not getting you fired up, but really refocused, and not becoming too emotional or too over aggressive, because they’re gonna call it tight, and we were already in foul trouble to begin with. So I think that was the message we got in the longest time out I’ve ever had in my history,” said Dixon.
The Horned Frogs have no room for error as the men’s college basketball regular season comes to end with the team firmly on the bubble for an at-large bid to March Madness. The NCAA’s website currently projects the Horned Frogs as making March Madness, in what would be the Horned Frogs’ first trip the tournament since the 2023-24 season.
A loss to a middling ASU team at this point in the season likely would’ve become a major obstacle in the team receiving an at-large bid as the Horned Frogs compete for one of the tournament’s final spots.
Here are three takeaways from TCU’s Big 12 win on Tuesday.
Double-double watch
Coming into Tuesday’s game Xavier Edmonds had eight double-doubles in his last nine games for TCU, and the junior was the best player on the floor in the first half of this game, leading TCU in points (15) and rebounds (5) at the break.
Edmonds’ versatility was on display. He scored on layups, hook shots, 3-pointers and earned multiple trips to the free-throw line as Sun Devil defenders tried, and failed, to slow him down.
The only thing that could slow Edmonds down was foul trouble, which did indeed send the forward to the bench early in the second half and limited him to only three minutes after the break.
Brock Harding talked about the team’s mentality as they fought through several players, including Edmonds’ foul trouble.
“We had some guys get in foul trouble, things that normally aren’t fouls, we think, but they are fouls. Guys can call it and they called it tonight. So we just got to be better at adjusting and kind of knowing the crew we have and being ready to change up our defensive mindset,” said Harding.
Edmonds finished the game with 17 points, six rebounds and an assist.
Offense out of rhythm
It was not a great day for the Horned Frogs offense, which struggled behind the arc (34%). The 3-point shooting was especially bad if you remove Edmonds and Micah Robinson (6 for 9) as the rest of the team was 2 for 14 on 3s.
While the Horned Frogs did a good job getting to the line versus ASU, but they didn’t convert early, shooting 56.3 percent from the free-throw line in the first half. The Horned Frogs, though, made them when they mattered, shooting 19 for 24 in the second half.
Dixon acknowledged the team’s offensive shortcomings but pointed out their second half surge.
“Got the lid off the rim in the second half, made some shots, made free throws. I like the 22 assists, especially 13 the second half, and seven turnovers, and we out rebounded them. So could have shot a little better, but I thought our defense was good all the way through,” said Dixon, “Great win for us.”
The Horned Frogs offense was able to get going in the second half, where they shot 53% from the field after a woeful 32% in the first half.
Micah Robinson scoring punch
On a day, where the offense struggled in almost every aspect, Robinson’s 3-point shooting was crucial for the Horned Frogs.
Robinson (3 for 5) was one of only two Horned frogs to make multiple 3-point attempts (Edmonds being the other). Robinson was efficient from the field and from the line (3 for 3) and ended the game as the team’s leading scorer.
Robinson finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
TCU is set to play Kansas State next at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
This story was originally published February 24, 2026 at 10:37 PM.
