TCU basketball wins Hall of Fame Classic after hanging on to knock off Liberty
Recovery is a theme TCU basketball coach Jamie Dixon constantly preaches to his team. The Horned Frogs did just that to avoid a late-game meltdown and prevail 56-52 over Liberty on Sunday afternoon.
The victory made TCU (3-0) the champions of the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Missouri. The Horned Frogs defeated Tulsa on Saturday night at KC’s T-Mobile Center.
“While not Power Five teams, they beat Power Five teams regularly,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said of the two wins over mid-major programs that regularly contend for NCAA Tournament berths.
TCU appeared to take control of the game midway through the second half. With the game tied at 36-all with 10:10 remaining, TCU went on a 9-0 run. That stretch featured layups by Kevin Samuel and Mike Miles, a stepback 3-pointer by Francisco Farabello and then two free throws by R.J. Nembhard for a 45-36 lead with 7:49 left.
TCU maintained a multiple possession lead after that until almost falling apart in the final 30 seconds.
Liberty pulled to within 54-52 with 30 seconds left after Nembhard turned it over on a pass trying to break a full-court press. That led to an easy layup by Flames guard Darius McGhee.
“I’ve got to be better with the turnover,” Nembhard said. “I’ve got to know I can’t make those types of plays. Do a bounce pass, a jump stop … the defense is going to foul me.”
Following Nembhard’s turnover, TCU’s Taryn Todd missed the front end of a one-and-one with 17 seconds left. Liberty had a chance for the game-winning, or game-tying shot at the buzzer. But TCU played solid defense and McGhee ended up turning it over with an errant pass with 2.1 seconds left.
Nembhard sealed the victory by making a couple free throws with 0.2 seconds left.
“We recovered pretty good,” Dixon said. “That’s something we really talk about is ‘recover.’ What we can do and how we can get better. The response with something negative, something positive, not making it too big either direction.”
Outside of the late turnover, Nembhard had a solid game all things considered with a team-high 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Nembhard missed the season-opener and a couple weeks of practice because of COVID-19 protocols coming into the season.
He was pleased to learn he had more rebounds than Samuel, but acknowledged his shooting must improve. He was 3 of 10 from the field and 0 for 4 from 3-point range.
“I’ve got to be more efficient, got to shoot better, but that will come once I get my rhythm back,” Nembhard said. “But being a complete player, leading my guys is huge for me. It’s huge for the team. I think it’s rubbing off on other guys as well.”
A trio of players finished with eight points including Samuel, Farabello and Todd. Samuel, who had 16 points and 18 rebounds against Tulsa, was named the tournament’s MVP.
Sunday was just the second meeting between TCU and Liberty. TCU defeated Liberty 80-68 in a nonconference game Jan. 3, 1997 in Fort Worth.
Liberty was a 30-win program last year that would have been in line for a second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth by winning the Atlantic Sun tournament. The Flames reached the Round of 32 in the 2019 tournament.
That’s why Dixon was more than happy to leave KC with a couple victories, especially considering some of the hurdles TCU has faced with a number of guys missing time due to COVID protocols.
“It was a good win for us. I’m happy for our guys,” Dixon said. “This is a hard team to play against on an 18-hour turnaround. I thought we did some good things, guarded really well and found some different offense and different ways to score against a disciplined, older team.”
TCU returns to action against Northwestern State on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth.
This story was originally published November 29, 2020 at 6:09 PM.
