‘We’ll respond. We’ll get better.’ TCU basketball looks to bounce back vs. Winthrop
Desmond Bane knew the TCU men’s basketball team would endure its share of struggles this season.
The Horned Frogs returned just two starters from last year’s team and had plenty of roster turnover. But Bane hoped adversity wouldn’t strike early on.
That, however, hasn’t happened. The first month has seen TCU lose two games by a combined four points in varying fashions.
The Frogs blew a 15-point lead at the end of regulation of what became a 62-60 overtime loss to Clemson last month in Las Vegas. And then TCU overcame an 18-point deficit, but ultimately fell short, in an 80-78 loss to USC in the inaugural game at Dickies Arena on Friday night.
“I knew we were going to hit adversity at some point and it came a little earlier than I would’ve liked it to for sure,” said Bane, TCU’s senior guard who is leading the team with 18 points a game.
“But we’ll respond. We’ll get better. I feel it’s good we’re being tested like this. We’ve lost to two good teams by a combined four points.”
TCU will look to get back on track against Winthrop on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena. This will be the first meeting between the programs.
Winthrop, a Big South school located in Rock Hill, South Carolina, is off to a 4-5 start. It’s signature win to date is an upset of No. 18 Saint Mary’s last month.
The Eagles have lost consecutive games coming into Fort Worth, although played top-ranked Duke closer than expected (83-70 loss) and were in a tight game against Coastal Carolina (92-88 loss).
So TCU shouldn’t overlook Winthrop by any measure.
The positive news coming out of Friday’s loss to USC is that TCU showed resiliency and fight in coming back from an 18-point deficit early in the second half.
“We’re not going to stop,” Bane said. “We’re going to keep going and keep playing. That’s kind of our DNA.”
Briefly
▪ TCU leads the Big 12 with 9.4 3-pointers made per game.
▪ TCU is 4-1 all-time against current Big South teams.
▪ Bane is closing in on becoming one of the Top 10 scorers in program history. He currently has 1,397, just 29 points shy of Gary Turner (1,426) for 10th. Turner played at TCU from 1964-66.
The details
Tipoff: 7 p.m.
TV: Fox Sports Southwest (Brian Estridge and Colin Boddicker)
Radio: KTCU 88.7 FM/ XM 375 (Jeff Williams and John Denton)
Venue: Schollmaier Arena, Fort Worth (6,800 capacity)
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 3:46 PM.
