How TCU’s Jamie Dixon is trying to ‘move on quick’ from worst stretch of his career
Jamie Dixon has endured bad stretches before in his coaching career.
TCU lost seven straight games to close the regular-season in his first year at the helm in 2016-17, but responded with two victories in the Big 12 tournament. That included a stunning 85-82 victory over top-ranked Kansas in Kansas City.
He had an eight-game losing streak, and then another five-game losing streak, in 2011-12 at Pittsburgh. A few years later, in 2014-15, Pitt lost its final three regular-season games and then went one-and-done in both the ACC Tournament and the NIT.
But the stretch TCU is in the midst of this season is arguably the worst of Dixon’s career. The Horned Frogs have lost six straight, and eight of their last nine, with seven of the losses coming by double figures.
How is Dixon handling it going into Saturday’s game against Kansas State?
“You want to win every game and obviously we’re not,” Dixon said. “I came here expecting a challenge and it is what it is. No one said it would be easy. You’re prepared for it and it’s part of why we do it. I wish it could be all fun and games, but it’s wins and losses. You respond. The challenge is responding to it.”
Easier said than done when you factor in the type of losses TCU is trying to recover from.
This drought started with a 32-point loss at West Virginia on Jan. 14, which was the most lopsided loss in Dixon’s career to that point. The Horned Frogs followed that with another dud, a 20-point loss at Oklahoma.
But nothing is worse than what happened on Monday night in Lubbock, as Texas Tech rolled to an 88-42 victory. That 46-point loss was the worst TCU has suffered in 42 years.
The Horned Frogs weren’t beaten that badly in a 6-22 year in 1992-93, or a 6-25 season in 2004-05, or when they went winless in Big 12 play in 2013-14.
For his part, at least publicly, Dixon isn’t belaboring the complete meltdown in Lubbock.
“It’s one loss. That’s what it is,” Dixon said. “You don’t get two losses for the margin. It’s one loss and we have to get a win on Saturday.
“We moved on pretty quick. There’s no need to hang on to it. We weren’t going to let that thing linger and move on. Certainly we’re on a bad stretch, but we’re all on to Saturday and trying to get back in the right direction.”
For TCU, K-State should be a welcomed sight. The Wildcats have lost six of their last seven, including a 64-59 loss to Oklahoma State on Tuesday.
TCU defeated K-State 59-57 in Manhattan, Kansas last month as part of a 3-0 start to Big 12 play. Of course, things have changed drastically in the weeks since for TCU.
The stretch this month has been particularly difficult with four games, including three on the road, in 10 days. That included at top-ranked Baylor, against No. 3 Kansas and at No. 24 Texas Tech.
But Dixon is preaching to his team that they are still tied for sixth place in the Big 12 with Texas. The Frogs (13-11, 4-7 Big 12) have a chance to earn a bye in the conference tournament next month.
“We have plenty of games left,” Dixon said. “If you looked at the schedule at the start of the year, this was going to be our tough stretch. We hit it and we didn’t perform. We didn’t get it done.
“So immediately after the game, I was like, ‘This is where we’re at. We’re playing for a bye.’ That was our message after the game. We haven’t mentioned the losses this week at all. I just don’t see what we gain out of it. We watched some film, but spent more time moving on to Kansas State.”
