Turnovers ruin TCU basketball’s upset bid as Texas Tech rolls to an easy victory
Blame the turnovers. Or the defense. Or the number of 3-point attempts.
Whatever the reason, TCU basketball had a disappointing day, despite Mike Miles returning to the lineup.
The Frogs led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but unraveled with turnover after turnover in an 82-69 loss at No. 9 Texas Tech on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Raiders outscored the Frogs 45-29 in the second half, and dominated in points off turnovers 26-16.
“They played hard. Kudos to their team,” TCU junior forward Emanuel Miller said. “I don’t think there’s a specific answer besides the fact that they played hard. They played harder than us. They out-toughed us. They out-hustled us. That’s just me being straightforward. They just played harder than us.”
The 82 points were the most allowed by TCU this season. Tech finished the day shooting 54% from the field.
TCU coach Jamie Dixon said in jest that the only things his team “won” were turnovers (20-11) and 3-point attempts (27-9). The 20 turnovers were the Frogs’ most since 22 turnovers in a loss at Oklahoma State on Jan. 19. And the 27 3-point attempts meant half of the Frogs’ shots on the day (54) were from long range, which isn’t exactly a winning formula for a team that ranks last in 3-point shooting in the Big 12.
“They did all the things that we wanted to do,” Dixon said. “We got off to a lead, just basically making some shots and making some open ones and making 3s. Probably not going to happen for 40 minutes. I don’t know that we understood that. Our defense wasn’t good enough early even with the big lead that we had and eventually we were going to break down. They stepped up the pressure, the aggressiveness, the physicality and we didn’t respond.”
TCU opened the game strong from 3-point range early on, knocking down 7 of its first 14 to build a 35-22 lead by the 5:22 mark of the first half. That lead dwindled to a 40-37 advantage by halftime with TCU turning it over four times and going 1 of 7 from the field the final five minutes of the opening half.
The struggles carried into the second half for TCU. The Red Raiders opened with a 9-0 run, taking a 41-40 lead on a second-chance layup by Bryson Williams with 19 minutes left, and never looked back.
TCU had five turnovers in the first five minutes of the second half, including two straight coming out of the under-16 minute media timeout. Dixon burned a timeout after the last one resulted in a fast-break dunk by Tech’s Marcus Santos-Silva and Tech extending its lead to 52-44.
But that break didn’t help the Frogs regroup. They turned it over on the first two possessions coming out of that timeout.
“They’re all frustrating,” Dixon said of the turnovers. “And I shouldn’t say that because we have a goal of 10 or less, so we want to be aggressive so there’s going to be some turnovers, but some of them just can’t be done. It’s disappointing.
“We’ve been working on it, we’ve been emphasizing it, but we’re not getting there.”
TCU (16-6, 5-5 Big 12) remains winless in Lubbock under Dixon. Tech (19-6, 8-4 Big 12), meanwhile, improved to 15-0 at the United Supermarkets Arena and have yet to lose consecutive games.
The Red Raiders were led by Terrence Shannon, Jr.’s game-high 20 points. Williams finished with 16 points.
Miles, who missed the previous two games with a wrist injury, led the Frogs with 16 points. Damion Baugh added 14 points.
“I was feeling surprisingly good,” Miles said. “(My wrists) still hurt. When I’m in the game, I don’t feel it, but they hurt right now. It was encouraging. I wish it would’ve been a win, but that’s not what happened.”
TCU returns to action against Iowa State on Tuesday night. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena.
TCU women fall
The TCU women lost a seventh straight game Saturday in Fort Worth. No. 9 Iowa State rolled to a 90-73 victory at Schollmaier Arena.
TCU (6-15, 2-10 Big 12) returns to action against No. 10 Baylor on Wednesday in Waco.
This story was originally published February 12, 2022 at 5:18 PM.
