‘This is the team I envisioned.’ TCU basketball carries momentum into Big 12 play
TCU basketball didn’t have the best non-conference season.
The Horned Frogs blew a 15-point lead and endured a lengthy scoring drought in a loss to Clemson in Las Vegas. They also fell short in trying to rally from an 18-point deficit against USC in the inaugural basketball game at Dickies Arena. And they couldn’t hang with an Xavier team that most project will have a decent seed in the NCAA Tournament.
All that being said, TCU (9-3) enters Big 12 play with a positive vibe. It hosts Iowa State (7-5) at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Schollmaier Arena.
This is a TCU team that closed the non-conference portion with its best game, an 87-53 rout of George Mason on Monday.
“This is the team I kind of envisioned,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said afterward. “Obviously the Big 12 is going to be a grind as always, but I just liked how we played and I liked what we did.”
What TCU did was take advantage of open shots, shooting a season-best 57.9% from the field. The Frogs were even better from long range, knocking down 58.3% (14-of-24) of their 3-pointers.
TCU did its part in other areas, too, winning the rebounding battle 38-28 and forcing George Mason to shoot just 32.7% from the field (18-of-55).
Collectively, TCU saw seven different players make a 3-point basket and had five players finish with at least five rebounds.
But that doesn’t mean it was perfect. Dixon lamented the team straying away from what had been working during a stretch in the second half.
“We had three plays in a row where we tried something different,” Dixon said. “What was working the entire half that had built a 24-point lead, 26-point at one point, we decided to do something different.
“That’s our challenge. That’s our battle. It’s something that comes with new guys and inexperience and wanting to experiment or try something new or just make something out of nothing. That’s where we fight.”
Fuller time
Freshman PJ Fuller is getting more comfortable in TCU’s system.
He scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting against George Mason, including two 3-pointers. TCU needs him to emerge as a scoring option as it is 4-0 when he scores at least 10 points.
Asked if his comfort level has grown from Day 1, Fuller said: “I’m trying to. Definitely with the help of my teammates and my coaches, they’re just instilling the confidence in me, telling me to be myself, play my game.
“Because of that, I’ve been playing better basketball and we’ve been playing better basketball as well. We put together a great game tonight. I think it was one of our better ones. We moved the ball really well and we just have fun most importantly.”
Briefly
▪ Iowa State is coming off a bad loss to Florida A&M on Tuesday. Florida A&M entered that game as a 25-point underdog.
▪ TCU swept the season series against Iowa State the past two seasons. Dixon has never lost to Iowa State in Fort Worth since returning to TCU for the 2016-17 season.
▪ The Cyclones are led by sophomore guard Tyrese Haliburton, a conference player of the year candidate. He is leading the league with 7.7 assists per game and is third with 17.3 points per game. Haliburton was sidelined with a left wrist injury in the loss to Florida A&M, but is expected to return for Saturday’s game.
▪ TCU is 1-6 in Big 12 openers, winning for the first time last season when it defeated Baylor 85-81.
This story was originally published January 3, 2020 at 7:30 AM.
