TCU survives scare from Air Force, pulling away late for 65-54 victory
Kevin Samuel wasn’t alive the last time a TCU basketball player opened the season with three consecutive double-doubles.
But he accomplished that feat on Monday night.
Samuel scored a team-high 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to carry TCU to a 65-54 victory over Air Force at Schollmaier Arena.
It marked his third double-double of the season, becoming the program’s first player to open with three straight since Kurt Thomas in 1994-95.
“Just hearing that is amazing,” said Samuel, a redshirt sophomore from Barbuda. “Just coming from the Caribbean and being here, it’s just an amazing thing to be a part of.”
Samuel stepped up on a night when TCU’s leading scorer Desmond Bane had an off night. Bane finished with just seven points, going 2-for-11 from the field.
But sophomore guard RJ Nembhard came through with 15 points, and freshman guard Francisco Farabello had 11 points for TCU.
TCU did other things well, too, such as forcing 19 turnovers, limiting its turnovers to 10 and winning the rebounding battle 38-28.
“We don’t make any shots,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “You battle through, so it shows you can win doing those things without making shots. Give them credit too for keeping us out of the lane and doing a good job of making us play on the perimeter.
“It was a good win for us, a Mountain West win.”
It wasn’t the prettiest, or easiest, of wins.
TCU had a 39-28 lead by halftime, courtesy of a couple alley-oop dunks from Nembhard to Samuel in the final minute. But Air Force didn’t go away quietly.
The Falcons pulled to within one possession following an 11-0 run in the second half, and then were within 52-51 with 7:45 left.
But TCU never surrendered the lead.
The Frogs went on a 9-0 run to regain a multiple possession lead. Nembhard scored four points, including a signature dunk, and Farabello delivered a clutch 3-pointer out of a timeout to extend TCU’s lead to 61-51.
Farabello entered the game having scored just five points combined in the first two games, but is getting more comfortable on the offensive end.
“Yeah for sure,” Farabello said. “Being a freshman and coming to the States of course they have different style so it took me time. But, thanks to my teammates, we are an incredible team and brothers and we help each other out. That helped me a lot.”
Air Force didn’t threaten after that, and TCU is now 3-0 to start the season.
The storyline going into the game centered on forward Jaedon LeDee being granted an immediate eligibility waiver. LeDee made his debut, checking in at the 8:32 mark of the first half.
He finished with four rebounds in eight minutes.
“It felt amazing,” LeDee said of his debut. “Earlier today I didn’t know I was going to be out there. I was just happy to be out there with my brothers. I thank TCU and Ike [Ukaegbu, TCU’s compliance director] and the compliance staff for making it possible.”
TCU returns to action against UC Irvine on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena.
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 9:53 PM.
