TCU overcomes slow start to knock off Sam Houston State in NIT opener

The TCU men’s basketball team didn’t have the prettiest of starts Wednesday.

Senior point guard Alex Robinson pointed to the obvious frustration and disappointment they felt for being left out of the NCAA Tournament. Freshman guard Kendric Davis said the Frogs almost would’ve rather called it a season, than settle for the second-tier NIT.

It showed early on. The Frogs were careless with the ball. They jacked up 3-pointers. And Sam Houston State jumped out to an early lead.

That changed as the first half wore on and into the second half. TCU played more inspired basketball and eventually rolled to a 82-69 victory over Sam Houston State in the opening round of the NIT on Wednesday night in front of an announced crowd of 3,095 at Schollmaier Arena.

“We were a little upset when we didn’t get in the tournament,” Robinson said. “You could definitely tell that we didn’t come out with the energy we needed to.”

Added Davis: “After we found out we didn’t make it, we dang near didn’t want to play no more. But we’ve seen the tribute when they won two years ago and it’s still a championship regardless. We also get to show the committee that we should’ve been in the tournament two years in a row, so it’s just a lot of motivation. Just go out there and play our hardest.”

The Frogs are now focused on proving the selection committee wrong and getting back to New York City.

The Frogs next face Nebraska, which defeated Butler 80-76 Wednesday in Lincoln. The second-round matchup is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Sunday at Schollmaier.

TCU is now two wins away from returning to New York’s Madison Square Garden for the NIT semifinals and championship early next month. The Frogs won this tournament in 2017, and the coaching staff showed the players the tribute video of that team to inspire the team earlier in the day.

“It was good to see how important it was,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “I thought it was really good for us.”

TCU (21-13) topped the 80-point mark for the first time since a triple-overtime loss at West Virginia last month. Senior forward JD Miller led the team with 15 points, junior guard Desmond Bane finished with 13 points and nine rebounds and freshman guard R.J. Nembhard had 12 points.

TCU freshman center Kevin Samuel had 11 points and six rebounds.

Sam Houston State (21-12), winners of the regular-season Southland Conference, stayed in it much of the game, thanks to Kai Mitchell’s 24 points.

The Frogs took control of the game with a strong start to the second half. They went on an early 8-0 run, taking advantage of points in the paint.

Miller and Samuel each had two easy buckets at the rim during that stretch, showcasing why TCU ended up dominating the points in the paint battle 50-26.

That translated to TCU getting it done in the transition game, too, with an 18-12 edge in fast break points.

The Frogs opened the second half by making 9-of-12 field goals. It marked a stark difference from how the game started.

TCU looked like a team still reeling in disappointment from not making the NCAA Tournament, instead of a team determined to prove the selection committee wrong.

The Frogs started 0-for-6 from 3-point range and were trailing 20-12 at the 11:23 mark of the first half.

Bane snapped the drought from deep, knocking in a 3-pointer to pull TCU within 20-19 with 8:29 left in the first half.

The Frogs then rallied late to take the lead.

Nembhard pushed them ahead 31-30 lead with a layup with 55.9 seconds left, and Bane drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 34-30 lead at halftime.

TCU didn’t surrender the lead the rest of the way, improving to 9-2 all-time against SHSU and 15-6 all-time in the NIT.

“I’m very proud of our guys,” Dixon said. “Obviously there was a lot of emotion on Sunday, a lot of disappointment. It’s hard, you think you’re getting to the tournament and then you don’t. It’s hard to battle.

“This team came out ready, Sam Houston, you knew they’d throw their first punch and I thought we handled it very well. I’m proud of how our guys played.”

This story was originally published March 20, 2019 at 10:07 PM.