Oral Roberts makes it interesting but TCU basketball eventually pulls away for victory
Mike Miles doesn’t feel like he’s taking bad shots. He doesn’t feel like he’s doing much different than a year ago.
For whatever reason, though, Miles simply isn’t making shots early in games. He struggled once again, missing his first 11 shots against Oral Roberts on Thursday night.
Miles eventually found his rhythm and the ball finally started going in. It happened at the right time, too, as Miles sparked a second-half push in TCU’s 71-63 victory over Oral Roberts at Schollmaier Arena.
“I just had to stay focused,” Miles said. “My first halves this year haven’t been really good. I don’t know why. That’s something I need to work on. I come back in the second half strong. My teammates help me out, and my coaches, they give me confidence to stay locked in and keep shooting.”
Maybe Miles felt pressure with 16 NBA scouts from 13 teams being on hand for the game. Miles and Oral Roberts star guard Max Abmas are on NBA radars early on this season. Or maybe Miles is still working his way back from hamstring and ankle injuries that have limited his practice time, as TCU coach Jamie Dixon said.
Despite Miles’ slow start, TCU led by as many as 17 points — 30-13 — in the first half and had a 39-29 lead by halftime. The Frogs extended that lead to 45-33 with 18 minutes left.
But that’s when Oral Roberts rallied back in it. The Golden Eagles took a 52-51 lead with a 19-6 run, a stretch that included three 3-pointers by Abmas.
“Obviously you’re never going to put it away with them with the way they play and the way they can score,” Dixon said. “That was a perfect example there.”
TCU responded with its own 7-0 run. Miles came to life, draining a 3-pointer for his first made field goal of the night with 9:33 remaining. Moments later, Miles scored on a fast-break layup to give the Frogs a 58-52 lead with just over 9 minutes left.
The Frogs stayed in front the rest of the way.
“(Miles) might’ve been 0 for 11 when I said shoot the next open shot,” Dixon said. “I told him that in the huddle and that’s when he went on and made some shots. Guys believed in him.”
As TCU senior forward Chuck O’Bannon Jr. said, “Mike Miles is Mike Miles. Everybody here knows exactly who he is and exactly what he can do.”
Miles and Damion Baugh tied for the team lead with 13 points, while O’Bannon had 12 points and Emanuel Miller finished with 10. Micah Peavy had a team-high eight rebounds to go along with six points.
The Frogs also won the rebounding battle 43-33 and forced 15 turnovers.
Abmas finished with 20 points on 7-for-19 shooting from the field. He also had six assists and seven turnovers.
“He’s really good,” Dixon said. “We told them five guys are going to guard him. He was 7 for 19. We told them he’s getting 20 shots up so we just have to make them low efficiency. That’s kind of what we did. Seven turnovers, too, so that’s part of it.”
For TCU, it’s a third straight win and improves it to 6-1 on the season. Next up is Utah on Wednesday night at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
“We feel like we’ve gotten better the last couple of games,” Dixon said.
