TCU basketball storms back from 20-point deficit to stun No. 22 Texas
TCU basketball didn’t panic being down 18 points at halftime. They didn’t need Jamie Dixon to find his inner Norman Dale and give a Hoosiers-esque pep talk.
Quite simply, the halftime messages focused on playing better defense and not giving up. The Frogs were determined not to let a forgettable six minutes to end the first half define their stay in the Big 12 tournament.
“I just told them, ‘Don’t give up.’ It’s win or go home,” TCU center Eddie Lampkin said.
Well, TCU isn’t going home. The Frogs extended their stay by storming back to stun No. 22 Texas 65-60 in the quarterfinal round at the T-Mobile Center.
The Frogs (20-11) will face No. 6 Kansas in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday.
“Obviously proud of our guys, how we responded,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “Certainly a tale of two halves, shoot 29% in the first half and 65% in the second half. … Certainly a heck of a response to an 18-point deficit.”
Erasing what was once a 20-point deficit is the biggest comeback of the Dixon era. The Frogs rallied from a 17-point deficit against Washington during the 2016-17 season.
Thursday also marked the first time TCU has defeated a ranked Texas team, entering the game 0-11 in those games. The Longhorns swept the regular-season series.
The Frogs found themselves in a 20-point hole as the Longhorns turned a 20-19 lead with 5:47 left in the first half into a 40-20 lead with a 20-1 run. UT had four 3-pointers in that stretch by four different players (Brock Cunningham, Marcus Carr, Jase Febres and Courtney Ramey).
TCU pulled to within 40-22 on a layup by Mike Miles with 26 seconds left in the half, which were the first points Miles scored after starting 0 for 7 from the field. And then the Frogs chipped away in the second half.
TCU cut the deficit to single digits, 44-35, by the 14:29 mark. A few minutes later, the Frogs went on an 11-0 run, taking a 53-52 lead on a jumper by Emanuel Miller with 6:45 left.
The lead changed four times down the stretch before TCU broke a 60-60 tie on a layup by Lampkin with 38 seconds left.
That play was started when Francisco Farabello’s inbounds pass went to a streaking Damion Baugh, who then lobbed it to an open Lampkin under the basket. Baugh had beaten UT’s Timmy Allen with Christian Bishop leaving Lampkin to help on Baugh.
“When we took the ball out, Allen, he had switched on (Emanuel Miller),” Baugh said. “I knew they were going to switch and he was going to play me going half court. So I back-cut it and I knew when I turned, Eddie was going to be right there. I just threw it over the top to him.”
Added Lampkin: “DB got the ball, my man went up and he just dropped it off to me.”
Texas’ Marcus Carr missed a stepback jumper on the next possession with Lampkin pulling down the rebound. The Frogs broke the Longhorns’ press and then Farabello knocked down two free throws to extend the lead to 64-60 with 15.9 seconds left.
TCU added one more point on a free throw by Baugh with 4.8 seconds left.
“Collectively, as a team, we all fought together,” said Miller, who finished with nine points and 12 rebounds. “Being down 18 at half in Division I basketball is not easy to come back from, let alone to do that in the Big 12. I thought this team showed grit. I thought we fought together. I thought, as a group, we showed what TCU basketball is about.”
TCU, unlike its first two meetings with Texas, won the rebounding battle 38-31. The Frogs also dominated in points in the paint 30-10 and points off turnovers 18-8.
Baugh finished with a team-high 17 points, while Miles added 13 points and Lampkin had 10 points and nine rebounds. Miles sustained a right ankle injury in the second half and briefly exited. He returned for the final seven minutes and said he’d be good to go for the semifinals.
For Texas (21-11), it was a head-scratching collapse going into March Madness. The Longhorns have dropped three straight. The 20-point blown lead was UT’s largest of the season.
UT coach Chris Beard was so frustrated afterward that he refused to give an opening statement in his postgame news conference.
“I hate to lose more than I like to win, and I’ve got some guys that I’m trying to teach that to,” Beard said. “Winning is an art. It shouldn’t just be your points per game and your rebounds. It ought to be your wins.
“When it comes down to winning time, you’ve got to make winning plays. A part of a winning mentality is you’ve got to hate to lose.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 1:50 PM.
