TCU remains winless against ranked teams as Texas runs away for a 76-64 victory
The Texas Longhorns couldn’t buy a 3-pointer early on. They opened 1 of 6 from deep at TCU on Sunday night.
That trend changed, though, as the No. 15 Longhorns ran away for a 76-64 victory over the Frogs at Schollmaier Arena. Texas made 8 of its 15 3s in the second half.
Texas (17-7, 11-6 Big 12) swept the season series against TCU (12-13, 5-11 Big 12). The Longhorns have won five straight meetings with the Frogs.
TCU fell below the .500-mark and to 0-9 against ranked teams on the season. Coach Jamie Dixon has never had a losing season in his coaching career, and has defeated at least one ranked team in each of his first 17 seasons.
The Frogs still have an opportunity to avoid a losing season and knock off a ranked team at this week’s Big 12 tournament, but they will have to win at least a couple of games to do so. Dixon believes it can happen.
“Certainly I do,” he said. “I thought we were going to win tonight. We’ve got to play better. We ain’t going to do it playing like this. I believe we can play better. I believe we can get better.
“I thought there were some moments, but when you’re young — you’re distracted, you doubt, you look for something else. They simply outplayed us.”
Texas has to feel good about itself going into the conference tournament, particularly with how it played in the second half.
Texas had a 33-29 lead at halftime as TCU committed 12 turnovers. The Longhorns pulled away in the second half.
Texas scored the first five points to extend its lead to 37-29, including a 3-pointer by Andrew Jones.
TCU pulled to within five points a couple of times, but UT always had an answer whether it be a 3-pointer by Courtney Ramey or an alley-oop from Ramey to Kai Jones. Kai Jones’ basket gave the Longhorns a 47-38 lead with over 13 minutes left.
Ramey made three 3-pointers in a four-minute stretch.
UT’s lead ballooned to 57-43 on a 3-pointer by Andrew Jones with 10:43 remaining. TCU rallied to pull within 57-49 but, once again, UT answered with a 3 — this time by Matt Coleman III with just over eight minutes left.
Coleman knocked down another 3-pointer to give the Longhorns a 65-53 lead with just over six minutes left. UT led by as many as 18.
The Longhorns had five players finish in double figures — Andrew Jones (16 points), Coleman (14), Ramey (13), Jericho Sims (13) and Kai Jones (10). Andrew Jones, Coleman and Ramey were a combined 9 of 14 from deep.
“It’s always good for us to click on the same page,” said Andrew Jones, who made all four of his 3-point attempts. “Everybody shooting a high percentage, making the right play. That’s what we need in order to make a run.”
TCU was led by junior guard RJ Nembhard’s 13 points. The Frogs finished with 22 turnovers, the fourth game they’ve hit the 20-turnover mark.
Nembhard said the turnovers number played a “huge” factor in TCU’s loss.
“Our goal is 10 or less turnovers,” Nembhard said. “In the second half, it led to their transition 3s or scrambling around for easy shots. Turnovers are huge. We’ve got to focus on that. We’re going into the conference tournament trying to get better at a lot of things.”
TCU has locked in the No. 8-seed for the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City. The Horned Frogs will face No. 9-seed Kansas State in the opening round at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the T-Mobile Center.
TCU and K-State split the season series with each team winning its respective road game. The Frogs knocked off the Wildcats 67-60 on Jan. 2 in Manhattan, while the Wildcats upset the Frogs 62-54 on Feb. 20 in Fort Worth.
Texas, meanwhile, has secured the No. 3-seed for the conference tournament. The Longhorns will face No. 6-seed Texas Tech on Thursday in KC.
This story was originally published March 7, 2021 at 8:04 PM.
