TCU basketball to show its ‘gritty’ style as it faces Texas in the Big 12 Tournament
It didn’t take long for Emanuel Miller to describe what type of team TCU basketball wants to become in the Big 12 Tournament.
“You’re going to see a TCU team that is gritty, that has a chip on our shoulder, that’s ready to compete,” the junior forward said following a practice session at the T-Mobile Center on Wednesday morning.
That mentality starts Thursday morning with a game against Texas to kick off the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Tip-off is set for 11:30 a.m.
The Frogs (19-11, 8-10 Big 12) were swept by the Longhorns (21-10, 10-8) in the regular season. UT has won the last seven meetings.
But TCU is confident things will turn around in the third meeting of the season.
“They outrebounded us. They outhustled us. They outplayed us,” Miller said. “Coming into this matchup, we’re going to show the real gritty team that we are.”
TCU has only been outrebounded six times this season, including twice by Texas. When the Frogs win the battle on the boards, they are 17-6.
That is one of the top priorities. So is limiting turnovers.
The Longhorns erased a 10-point lead in the final 13 minutes of the last meeting, converting 17 turnovers by the Frogs into 30 points. The Frogs know the Longhorns will once again try to trap them off ball screens to force turnovers.
“We’ve been seeing that all year long,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “We’ve got to be better at it. We’re preparing for pressure.”
TCU’s goal is to have 10 or fewer turnovers a game, something it accomplished only twice during Big 12 play — once against Iowa State on Feb. 15 and versus Kansas on March 1. But it’s of added importance in a game where possessions will be precious.
TCU and UT are top 25 defenses, according to KenPom’s ratings.
“We want to make teams turn the ball over,” Texas senior guard Courtney Ramey said. “We want to make them uncomfortable.”
Similar situations
TCU and Texas are both considered locks for the NCAA Tournament, but both teams would like to improve their seeding for March Madness.
More importantly, both want to avoid going into the Big Dance on a three-game losing streak.
The Frogs dropped their final two regular-season games at Kansas and at West Virginia, but that came at the end of a stretch in which they played seven games in two weeks.
Texas, meanwhile, dropped close games to Baylor and Kansas.
Players for both teams stressed that the postseason marks a new season and what’s happened to this point is essentially tossed out the window.
“Everybody is 0-0,” Ramey said. “Our mindset is to win the game, control the rebounding game and just play our best game of the year. I think we’ve yet to play our best basketball and March Madness is the perfect time to do that.”
Added TCU sophomore guard Mike Miles: “We obviously didn’t end the conference how we wanted to, but it’s a new season. Everyone is 0-0. Everyone is starting fresh in this conference. We’re trying to play our best basketball.”
Briefly
▪ Dixon said TCU junior guard Shahada Wells (COVID protocols) did not make the trip to Kansas City. Wells, a transfer from UT-Arlington, played in only seven games early on before being shut down with a season-ending injury.
▪ Texas coach Chris Beard on the TCU matchup: “We’ve had 80 minutes of basketball with TCU. A lot of those minutes were back and forth. We were fortunate to win both games on the scoreboard. In Fort Worth, it was one of our better games defensively. In Austin, I thought TCU gave us all we could handle and then we had a really aggressive comeback in the end. I think the two teams are even in a lot of ways, two NCAA Tournament teams. This will be a typical March game.”
