Ugh. TCU falls flat, has untimely offensive drought in loss to Texas in NIT semifinals

TCU ended its season with a thud.

The Frogs picked the wrong time to have their worst offensive game. Credit Texas for its defensive effort, coupled with TCU’s cold night, as the Longhorns pulled away for a 58-44 victory in the NIT semifinals on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Texas (20-16) advances to the NIT championship game against Lipscomb (29-7) at 6 p.m. Thursday night at MSG.

TCU (23-14) closes its season with a loss, failing to go a perfect 3-0 against Texas this season.

The Frogs head home amid speculation of whether Jamie Dixon will bolt to UCLA. This is not the way anyone expected the season to end with the worst offensive performance in the Dixon era.

TCU went through lengthy scoring droughts, scoring just 17 points in the opening half. They didn’t fare much better in the second half.

The Frogs finished the game shooting just 28 percent from the field. TCU’s previous season-low in points came in a 64-52 loss to Kansas State on March 4.

That had been the fewest scored in the Dixon era, but Tuesday night set a new dubious record.

TCU had multiple scoring droughts of six-plus minutes without a made field goal, early in the first half and stretching from late in the first half and into the second half.

“This obviously was not our best performance and this one is going to hurt. ... It’s going to be hard,” Dixon said. “This game did not go our way. Give Texas credit, they were more physical, more active. ... Offensively we were never in a rhythm.”

TCU tried to stay in it, though.

Junior guard Desmond Bane went on his own 5-0 run in a 24 second stretch to cut the deficit to single digits, 36-28, with 13:54 left. His 3-pointer to cap the run was the Frogs’ first triple of the day.

After Texas regained a 38-28 lead on a quick bucket off a turnover, TCU’s R.J. Nembhard knocked down a 3-pointer and Kouat Noi scored a layup to make it a 38-33 game with 11:24 left.

TCU had a couple chances to make it a one-possession game, but Nembhard missed a layup and senior forward JD Miller turned it over on a bad pass.

Texas capitalized with a 6-0 run to build a comfortable 44-33 lead, as TCU endured a 4:39 scoring drought. The Frogs never threatened after that.

“Defensively, they were executing defensively, getting stops when they needed,” Miller said. “We just couldn’t execute on the offensive end.”

Texas guard Kerwin Roach was the star of the game with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Longhorns senior forward Dylan Ostekowski finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

TCU opened the game with its worst half of the season offensively. The 17 points were the fewest in the Dixon era.

The Frogs couldn’t get anything going against the Longhorns.

They were 0-for-6 from 3-point range. They had more turnovers (six) than assists (one). They finished with just a 28 percent field goal percentage.

“It started on the defensive end,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “The biggest adjustment was just the mentality of aggressiveness, the mindset we wanted to have.”

TCU held a brief 8-5 lead early in the first half, but Texas went on a 7-0 run with Roach scoring every point.

TCU had its moments such as Bane scoring consecutive field goals to cut the deficit to 16-14 with 9:08 left. But Texas always answered.

After Bane’s field goals, Texas went on a 15-2 run with TCU’s lone points coming on a jumper by Kendric Davis with 5:13 left. That marked the last field goal the Frogs scored in the opening half.

TCU scored just one more point on a free throw by Alex Robinson, trailing 31-17 at the break.

Texas, meanwhile, shot 41 percent from the field in the first half.

Roach led the Longhorns with 13 points. Roach was suspended for the regular season finale between the schools in Austin, but showed the difference-maker he is.

Robinson, the former star at Mansfield Timberview, ended a standout college career on a low note but was proud of TCU’s effort all season.

“This loss really hurts honestly,” he said. “I’m just proud of our guys, we fought hard all season, I feel like we fought hard today. … We fought hard, I’m really proud of our guys.”

This story was originally published April 2, 2019 at 10:47 PM.