Mike Miles’ quick start, TCU’s emphasis on transition offense leads to win over Utah
TCU coach Jamie Dixon and guard Mike Miles shared a laugh during Wednesday’s game at Dickies Arena.
Miles had just finished a Horned Frogs’ fast break with a layup in TCU’s 76-62 win over Utah in front of about 2,000 in attendance and Dixon wanted to remind his sophomore of something.
“See, you can get some layups without the ball,” Dixon told Miles, who tied a career high with 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. “And he laughed and I laughed. But it was growth.”
It wasn’t just a moment of growth for Miles. It was a moment of growth for the Horned Frogs (7-1), who showed for the first time this season how effective they can be when they’re moving the ball swiftly in transition.
TCU outscored Utah (6-3) 18-6 in fast-break points and 44-28 in the paint.
Two points of emphasis were accomplished in the win against a former Mountain West Conference foe: transition baskets and getting Miles off to a quick start.
Miles, who had struggled early in games, scored the first five TCU points and had 15 at the half. He also finished with a team-high eight rebounds and added four assists. Miles is the first TCU player to record 28 points, eight rebounds and four assists since Ryan Carroll finished with the same stat line against VCU on Dec. 6, 2000.
“Seeing the ball go in in the first half for the first time this season it definitely made me more confident,” Miles said. “I’m not going to play like this every night, I know that, but I try my best and if it’s not falling, get my teammates involved.”
Dixon has emphasized to the team, specifically the guards, to fly down the court quicker to help instigate more transition-game baskets.
“He had it going today,” Dixon said of Miles, who played nearly 37 minutes. “We don’t want him to play that many but he was certainly efficient today. He didn’t bring the ball up [every time] but he was the guy finishing in transition and those are ones we’ve got to get.”
Miles’ fast start also helped inspire his teammates, TCU forward Emmanuel Miller said.
“It gives us tremendous confidence. Mike can get a bucket when he wants to,” said Miller, who had 10 points and four rebounds. “When we see him go in early, getting active early, playing hard early, that just motivates everyone else to go hard.”
After seeing their success in the transition game, Dixon is hoping the tape will help motivate the team going forward. The Frogs play Texas A&M at the Toyota Center in Houston at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Big 12 Conference play begins Jan. 1 against Kansas in Lawrence.
“We’re getting better and that’s what we wanted to do. I’m excited about where this team is going,” Dixon said. “I’ve been amazed at how few transition baskets we were getting early on. And we’ve shown them. They don’t run hard enough and now we’re starting to do that and they’re seeing the results.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2021 at 10:47 PM.
