TCU basketball avoids embarrassment, hangs on for 66-61 victory over Prairie View A&M
Disaster averted for the TCU men’s basketball team.
With leading scorer RJ Nembhard sidelined with a groin injury, TCU found itself in a surprisingly close game against Prairie View A&M. In fact, the Panthers led at halftime and stayed within striking distance until the final buzzer.
But TCU eventually pulled away for a 66-61 victory on Wednesday night at Schollmaier Arena. Oddsmakers had pegged TCU as a 19-point favorite.
“It was definitely a learning experience for us,” said TCU freshman guard Mike Miles, who had a game-high 18 points. “I don’t think we were ready for the energy they brought. We had too many turnovers. We’re going to work on that, but we got the win.
“Everyone knows we should’ve won by more, but we’ve just got to keep getting better.”
Along with Miles, TCU was led by sophomore forward Kevin Easley’s 14 points and junior center Kevin Samuel’s 12 points and 14 rebounds.
The Frogs improved to 8-2 on the season, while the Panthers fell to 1-4. Prairie View A&M wasn’t on TCU’s initial schedule, but was a late addition when Texas Southern backed out amid COVID-19 concerns on Sunday.
Still, Prairie View A&M wasn’t viewed as a program that would pose this kind of test. The Panthers were coming off a 90-62 loss at Washington State on Dec. 21, and were 0-6 in program history against TCU.
The Frogs handled the Panthers 73-55 in the last meeting on Dec. 11, 2015. More impressively, TCU boasted a 38-1 all-time record against members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
None of that history mattered, especially with Nembhard out. Nembhard is TCU’s leading scorer, averaging 18.4 points. And the Frogs struggled to score early on.
“It was a big of challenge [not having Nembhard],” Samuel said. “He’s one of our leaders.”
Prairie View A&M took advantage and had a 30-29 at halftime, outrebounding TCU 23-22 and holding it scoreless the final three-plus minutes in the opening half. TCU shot just 30% from the field and 28.6% from 3-point range in the first half.
Prairie View A&M stayed in it most of the second half, too, with the game tied at 48-all with less than eight minutes left.
TCU pulled away with a 10-0 run, which started on a dunk by Samuel and ended on a layup by Samuel for a 58-48 lead with four minutes left.
But the Panthers didn’t go away quietly. They pulled to within 60-56 with just over two minutes left, but the Frogs prevailed in the end.
TCU finished the game shooting 38% from the field, 25% from 3-point range and 57% from the free throw line. The Frogs also turned it over 14 times.
TCU coach Jamie Dixon would have liked to see his team perform better, of course, but mentioned a number of players battling through injury and fatigue. At the end of the day, Dixon liked how his team battled through it all.
“We’ve got to make some free throws, make some open 3s, play better, but we’ll take the win,” Dixon said. “I thought we battled through. We were hurting, we were fatigued, but we made the plays at the end.”
TCU returns to Big 12 play on Saturday, traveling to Kansas State. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. in Manhattan.
This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 9:26 PM.
