‘We have to play better than that.’ TCU reverts to losing ways at short-handed Texas
Texas didn’t have its leading scorer available against TCU on Wednesday night. Or its leading rebounder. Or another starter. Or a key reserve.
That didn’t matter for the Longhorns.
TCU reverted back to its losing ways, allowing Texas’ reserves to have breakout games in a stunning 70-56 victory at the Frank Erwin Center.
“We have to play better than that,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “We’ve got to be a better team than that. It falls on me. That’s how I look at it. That’s what I told our guys.”
With starters Matt Coleman III, Jericho Sims and Jase Febres sidelined, as well as Gerald Liddell, the Longhorns were seemingly at a significant disadvantage.
But that’s when Texas freshman center Will Baker made a name for himself. He played a starring role by scoring 20 points, more than double the number of points he’d scored (16) all season.
Baker went 4 for 6 from 3-point range, despite shooting just 1 of 25 from deep going into the game.
“It felt good to get those off,” Baker said. “I stayed ready and kept working on my shot. My time came.”
Texas’ Kai Jones matched his season total by making two 3-pointers on the night, part of a 9 for 15 night by the team. And we’ve yet to mention Longhorns guard Andrew Jones, who finished with a game- and season-high 21 points.
“If you’re a numbers guy, it’s hard to fathom,” Dixon said. “We had so many breakdowns defensively it was amazing. We tried to make adjustments and we’re just not a team that can handle adjustments.
“Give them credit. We had deficiencies, but they have to hit the shot too.”
As much as Dixon wanted to take the blame, the loss falls on everyone associated with TCU’s program.
TCU (14-12, 5-8 Big 12) has lost seven of its last eight, and nine of its last 11 since getting off to a 3-0 start in conference play. Eight of those nine losses have come by at least 11 points.
Texas (15-11, 5-8 Big 12), meanwhile, snapped a four-game losing streak and was coming off a 29-point loss at Iowa State on Saturday.
Wednesday saw a few fans on social media wondering if this was TCU’s worst loss of the season. Well, the Frogs did lose by 46 points at Texas Tech less than 10 days ago, the worst loss in program history in 42 years.
But TCU managed to somehow turn in a performance that reached a level comparable to that historic meltdown in Lubbock.
TCU had a 38-36 lead at halftime, but then scored just 18 points in the second half.
The Frogs shot 24.1% from the field in the final half, including 0 for 10 from 3-point range, and turned it over 10 times. Frogs standout guard Desmond Bane was held scoreless in the second half after scoring 13 points in the first half.
Dixon was lost for answers.
“Just when I think we’re getting a little better offensively, we took a big step backward in the second half in our execution,” Dixon said. “We’re 0 for 10 from 3 on pretty good looks and the 10 turnovers were amazing. We dug the hole. Once again, as it went down and we lost the lead, we just made it worse than it was.”
Bane finished as TCU’s leading scorer with 13. Jaire Grayer and Kevin Samuel both scored 11 points. Samuel also had 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season.
But there wasn’t anything positive for TCU after this performance.
“We were getting a lot of open looks, getting the shots we wanted,” Bane said. “Kevin was getting some stuff around the rim. Jaire had some open 3s. I had some open looks that I’ve got to knock down. That’s basketball — you make or miss shots.”
For as poorly as TCU played throughout, it still had a chance late by pulling to within 57-53 with 2:34 left. But the Frogs missed shots on consecutive possessions and the Longhorns eventually capitalized.
Texas sealed the game with a 3-pointer by Jones with 59 seconds left, taking a 60-53 lead. The Longhorns extended the lead to 14 points by the final buzzer for its biggest margin of victory in more than a month, as TCU left another road venue shaking its head.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to win games and a way to finish plays and get stops when we need to,” Bane said. “That’s the bottom line. We’re just not getting it done.”
TCU returns to action against No. 17 West Virginia on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth.
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 9:10 PM.
