TCU basketball has its ‘starting point’ following a 77-61 victory over McNeese State
The starting point.
That’s how TCU men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon described a season-opening 77-61 victory over McNeese State on Thursday night at Schollmaier Arena.
The Horned Frogs did some things well such as dominating the rebounding battle 57-34, drawing three charges in the first half and getting to the free-throw line 34 times.
But they turned it over 18 times and didn’t have the best night shooting (35.4% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range).
“Offensively we just kind of went backwards and got sped up,” said Dixon, who improved to 19-0 in season openers. “I think emotions took over. I think playing in front of some people. You know we played those two scrimmages with nobody in the stands, and just didn’t handle it as well as I thought we would or hoped we would.
“That’s our starting point. We had a 16-point win. We had 18 turnovers. We know what we have to work on.”
TCU sophomore guard Mike Miles had a game-high 22 points with half of his points being scored from the free-throw line. Texas A&M transfer Emanuel Miller added 12 points and 13 rebounds, and senior forward Chuck O’Bannon Jr. finished with 10 points.
Miles provided a brief scare when he hobbled to the locker room early in the second half, but it was only a cramp in his calf muscle. He returned shortly after.
Miles didn’t have his best performance from the field, going 4 of 13, but made up for it by getting to the line and going 11 of 12.
“I saw my shot wasn’t falling really,” Miles said. “I tried to get to the line, draw fouls. I didn’t know I shot 12 free throws. It worked — got points, we won. That’s all that matters.”
TCU got off to a slow start, falling behind 17-12 early in the first half. But the Frogs went on a 10-0 run, which was started on a dunk by junior center Souleymane Doubmia and capped with consecutive 3-pointers by Damion Baugh and Miles.
The run gave TCU a 22-17 lead, something it didn’t surrender the rest of the game.
TCU led 36-26 at halftime with Miles leading the way with 12 points in the opening half. The Frogs pulled away in the second half, leading by as many as 21 points.
“I know in the second half collectively we played together as a group, got more assists,” Miller said. “We need to stop the turnovers to push the margin on the score to a better score but we played well.”
TCU (1-0) returns to action against Southern Miss on Monday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena.
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 9:29 PM.
