Surging TCU men subdue Texas Tech, think postseason

Now that they’ve won three out of four and reached 17 wins, the TCU men dare to dream a little.

NCAAs? NIT? With 20 wins still in reach, why not?

“We’re just fighting to get in something postseason,” sophomore forward Kenrich Williams said after recording a double-double with 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds Wednesday night in the Horned Frogs’ 71-54 victory against Texas Tech. “Make something.”

That drive has fueled the Horned Frogs (17-11, 4-11 Big 12) to victories since Feb. 14 against Oklahoma State, Kansas State and now Texas Tech, plus a competitive game at Kansas.

TCU coach Trent Johnson said the level of play was less Wednesday night, but still rewarding because of the victory.

“We’ve come a long way to not play well and win a game in this league,” Johnson said. “It speaks volumes for how this team has grown up, how much it has matured. It wasn’t exactly pretty, but I really didn’t expect it because our last three games, we played pretty hard. We played pretty well.”

Kyan Anderson, who didn’t practice the previous two days because his back has been bothering him, scored 17 points and had six assists, going 3 for 9 on 3-pointers. Trey Zeigler had 15 points and four rebounds, and Amric Fields added 10 points.

Anderson’s 3-pointer, Zeigler’s layup and Anderson’s free throws gave TCU its biggest lead of the game at 63-42 with 5:08 left.

The Horned Frogs shot 44.4 percent, won the rebounding battle 38-37, committed only eight turnovers and forced 13 by the Red Raiders (12-17, 2-14). In the second half, TCU shot 53.8 percent.

In winning three of four, the Frogs have scored 70, 69, 71 and 71 points. Before that stretch, the Frogs had lost seven consecutive games.

“We went through a stretch there where we played seven teams that were ranked,” Johnson said. “We caught them at a tough time. It speaks volumes to how these guys stayed the course. Because I know a lot of people on the outside were saying, ‘Here we go.’ These kids stayed the course. They understood why we were getting beat.”

The victory gave the Frogs a three-game conference winning streak at the Fort Worth school district’s Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center, their one-year home while Daniel-Meyer Coliseum on campus is being renovated. They are 12-5 in the facility this season.

Two road games are next for the Horned Frogs, who know what they must do about that dream.

“We can’t relax,” Williams said. “That’s pretty much it. Don’t give up. Keep fighting.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2015 at 10:30 PM with the headline "Surging TCU men subdue Texas Tech, think postseason."