TCU rides record night from 3-point land to easy victory over Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
TCU basketball relied on the deep ball Tuesday.
The Horned Frogs set a program record with 18 3-pointers, propelling them to an easy 98-65 victory over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns at Schollmaier Arena.
“We take a lot of 3s,” said senior guard Desmond Bane, who set a career-high with seven.
“Coach gets on us, but if we’re going to take ‘em, we’ve got to make ‘em. ... Tonight we were.”
TCU finished 18-of-38 from long range. The previous record for 3-pointers was 17, which had been done twice (at UNLV on March 13, 2008 and vs. Grambling State on Dec. 30, 1999).
The Frogs opened the game with 12 3-pointers in the first half, the most in an opening half since at least the 2009-10 season.
Bane led the way by making 7-of-13 on the night, accounting for most of his game-high 25 points. Sophomore guard RJ Nembhard, from Keller, finished with a career-high 16 points, knocking down two 3-pointers.
Frogs freshman PJ Fuller with finished 15 points, and senior Edric Dennis had 14. Center Kevin Samuel had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Jaire Grayer scored 11.
Dennis hit the record-tying 3-pointer with 1:28 left, and then broke it by draining a 3 with 45 seconds left.
“That was amazing when I heard that we set the record, that was pretty cool,” Dennis said. “But we don’t want to let up. We want to stay on the gas, because we can’t take this game for granted. We have to come out from start to finish and not take this game for granted.”
The game didn’t get off to a promising start for TCU, as Louisiana had a 27-21 lead with 11:11 left in the first half.
But the Frogs responded with an 11-0 run, highlighted by consecutive 3-pointers by freshmen Fuller and Francisco Farabello. Fuller’s cut the deficit to 27-26 and Farabello put the Frogs ahead 29-27.
Grayer, the fifth-year senior from George Mason, then got in the action, closing the run with a triple of his own.
TCU wouldn’t surrender the lead the rest of the way.
Fuller had a nice play with a steal and fast-break dunk to extend the lead to 42-33 lead with 2:50 left, and then Nembhard knocked down a couple 3-pointers in the final 1:16. TCU had a 52-38 lead at half.
The Frogs finished the opening half with 12 made 3-pointers (12-of-21). Bane scored all 15 of his first-half points from long range, going 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
TCU coach Jamie Dixon doesn’t have a “number” of 3-point attempts he’d like his team to shoot a game, although 38 is probably on the high end. Not to mention the 3-point line was moved to the international distance this season (from 20 feet, 9 inches to 22 feet, 1¾ inches).
“It’s just about looks,” Dixon said of the 3-point attempts. “We talk about inside out 3s, not just coming down and shooting 3s. We also have to have a balance between getting layups and getting Kevin the ball and getting drives to the basket. It’s not a number, it’s how you get them. You got to have inside out 3s.
“We took one where we just threw it around and shot it. Those are harder 3s and it’s about taking high percentage one’s and penetration with inside touch. You look at the numbers, it’s always about getting some penetration, paint touches and playing after that.”
Louisiana, picked to finish fifth in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll, had its own success from 3-point range early on. The Ragin’ Cajuns were 7-of-10, including a 4-of-4 effort by junior guard Cedric Russell, in the opening half.
But once TCU took control by closing the first half strong, Louisiana never threatened. TCU led for the final 28:03 of the game.
Louisiana forward Jalen Johnson had a team-high 21 points, while Russel finished with 18.
“I’m really happy with how we played,” Dixon said. “I told the guys afterwards the last five to seven minutes I’m really happy with how we played. We had a big lead but we played with discipline, we played the right way, we did the right things, right guys with the right shots and we kept guarding even with a big lead.”
TCU (2-0) returns to action against Air Force on Monday. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena.
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 9:08 PM.
