TCU fends off Texas A&M’s late surge, improves to 8-1 with ‘important’ win in Houston
TCU’s halftime lead was gone and they were in a dogfight with Texas A&M on Saturday evening at Toyota Center.
The Horned Frogs’ were no longer skating to victory but scratching and clawing at both ends of the floor against the Aggies in front of about 2,000 in attendance.
TCU’s Emanuel Miller, the Aggies leading scorer from a year ago, matched a 3-pointer from former teammate Quenton Jackson after Texas A&M had erased TCU’s 10-point halftime lead.
Miller scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half, including several rebound put backs that slowed the Aggies’ momentum to help lead the Horned Frogs to a 68-64 win.
TCU (8-1) next plays at Georgetown at 1 p.m. Dec. 18.
“It was good because it reminded me of all those times we were in practice chirping at each other,” Miller said of his days playing with Jackson at Texas A&M. “Those moments I’ll cherish forever.”
And it’s a win the Frogs’ will cherish, at least for a few days. They’ve won five consecutive games.
“Getting a win was important for us, for a lot of different reasons,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “It’s just another step in the process. We won with our defense, but we can play better and I think our guys know that.”
The Aggies forced the Frogs into a slow-paced, defensive-minded game in the second half, virtually eliminating TCU’s transition game that was effective in the win against Utah earlier in the week.
But the Aggies (7-2) struggled from the free-throw line — 8 of 18 — and TCU remained a force on the offensive glass, outrebrounding A&M 41-32. That accounted for 16 second-chance points for the Frogs. Miller had at least six of those.
“You wish, if you win the first half by 10, you win the game by 20. It doesn’t work that way,” Dixon said. “We let them hang around, to be honest. We have to learn from it. We have to sustain [the momentum]. For whatever reason, we did not get the pace going offensively, and I think it might have been fatigue. Playing with the lead, we still need to be aggressive.”
UT San Antonio held off Sam Houston State 78-73 in a game played ahead of TCU-A&M.
Charles O’Bannon, who led TCU with 18 points, and Mike Miles hit consecutive 3s to give TCU a 55-51 lead with 5: minutes, 41 seconds left but the Aggies wouldn’t fade. Damion Baugh, who was 0 for 4 from the field, made 9 of 10 free throws, and had eight rebounds and four assists.
Why did Dixon call it an important win for the Frogs? He ticked off several reasons, including it being at a neutral site, against an in-state opponent from the Southeastern Conference, recruiting benefits, and the experiencing of playing in the Houston Rockets’ arena.
“I felt like I wasn’t playing to the best of my ability, and I knew that in order for us to win, not only do I need to step up, but all of the other guys needed to step up,” Miller said of his second-half scoring surge. “Every dead ball we had, we talked about it. I just knew, no matter what, I was going to help my team.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 9:25 PM.
