Can TCU rebound from a blowout loss to Kansas? Facing No. 2 Baylor won’t make it easy.
Kevin Samuel had no rebounds for the first time in his career. Mike Miles finished with zero points, going 0-for-8 from the field. That’s just the start of a long list of issues in TCU’s troubling performance during a 93-64 loss to No. 6 Kansas on Tuesday night.
The beauty of a basketball season, though, is the next game is never too far away. For TCU, it’s chance at redemption comes Saturday afternoon when No. 2 Baylor visits town. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena.
The Frogs hope to emulate what the Jayhawks did to them. KU was coming off a 25-point home loss to Texas before turning it on against TCU in Fort Worth. TCU would love to rebound in a similar fashion against Baylor.
“The biggest message I gave, I was like, ‘Hey, I think Kansas felt like us the other day and we need to respond like Kansas did,’” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “They came out and just took care of businesses and dominated in every area. Certainly that’ll be tough to do against Baylor and their experience, but we’ve got to respond in some way. It is possible.”
Easier said than done.
The Bears are off to a 10-0 start as one of the best teams in the country with legitimate national championship aspirations. Guards Jared Butler, MaCio Teague, Davion Mitchell, Adam Flagler and Matthew Mayer are all averaging double-digit points. Mark Vital is one of the top defensive players in the country.
But TCU feels like it should be able to compete with every team in the Big 12. Despite Tuesday’s performance, the Frogs have shown flashes this season. And TCU pulled off the upset of then-No. 2 Baylor in Fort Worth a season ago.
They are 2-0 in Big 12 road games and had been riding a five-game winning streak going into the game against the Jayhawks.
TCU junior guard RJ Nembhard has emerged as one of the top scoring threats in the Big 12. Miles was off to one of the best starts by a freshman before Tuesday’s setback. And, despite his zero-rebound game, Samuel is still averaging 9.33 rebounds a game.
Nembhard had a simple message when asked what he’d say to a young player such as Miles coming off a disappointing game.
“He’s a freshman. He’s 18 years old,” Nembhard said. “You’ve got to understand that he’s going to have his ups and downs like all freshmen do. I told him to keep his head up. It’s a long season. He’s a big part of this team.”
Nembhard then went into a more big-picture view that applied to the entire team, saying: “We’ve all had those games where you can’t throw a rock in the ocean, but I told him to keep his head up and come strong for Saturday.
“I just tried to keep the guys encouraged. It’s a long season and we’ve got a lot of games to play. A lot of guys haven’t been in this situation, so that’s going to be something that I continue to preach to them as we go into another tough opponent on Saturday.”
