TCU basketball remains hungry to make more history in the NCAA Tournament
TCU isn’t a tradition-rich basketball program. It doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt as it found out in 2019 as one of the top snubs from the NCAA Tournament.
But the Horned Frogs are changing the culture. They just won their first NCAA Tournament game in 35 years on Friday night, and will be looking to make more history by becoming the program’s first team to win multiple NCAA Tournament games.
A trip to the Sweet 16 won’t be easy, of course, with the Frogs set to face the South Region’s 1-seed Arizona Wildcats at 8:40 p.m. Sunday at Viejas Arena.
“It would mean a lot. We made history yesterday winning a game for the first time in 35 years,” TCU sophomore guard Mike Miles said. “We’re looking to make more history (Sunday). It’s not going to be easy. Arizona is a great team. If we prepare and play defense like we did the last game, we’ll have a good shot.”
For TCU coach Jamie Dixon, making the Sweet 16 would be another sign of progress for a program he took over six years ago.
Dixon joked that TCU wasn’t even getting into the NIT “when you could buy yourselves in.”
“People thought I was crazy for coming here, but I believed in it, and they believed in me,” Dixon said. “I thought we could get it to where it could be proud of its basketball program, and we’ve done that. We did that in pretty quick turnaround.
“But there’s work to be done, so that will be another step. It would mean a lot to our people, and I think to our university. We’ve come a long way and we’re proud of it. And we’re winning games. I’m just excited and our fans are excited, and the crowds we had are tremendous.”
Talkin’ D
TCU knows it’ll have its hands full against one of the top offenses in the country. The Wildcats are the third-best offense in the country, averaging 84.6 points per game.
Arizona is led by guard Bennedict Mathurin, a projected lottery pick in this summer’s NBA Draft, and has seen point guard Dalen Terry score in double figures three straight games. They also have multiple big men who can score, including forward Azuolas Tubelis and center Christian Koloko.
TCU guard Micah Peavy is the Frogs’ best defender and will likely be matched up with Mathurin much of the night.
“He likes to come off a lot of screens for his shots, and he likes to get out in transition because he is a really athletic player,” Peavy said. “So it’s going to be tough, but I’d say he plays like Ochai (Agbaji) from Kansas. They’re like similar players, so just guard (Mathurin) how we guarded (Agbaji).”
Added guard Francisco Farabello: “They’re really good in the paint and under the rim. So ball pressure is going to be a big key for us. Don’t let the ball get in the paint so easily.”
The good news for TCU is how well the defense played against Seton Hall on Friday night. The Frogs held the Pirates to just 28.8% shooting from the field, limiting them to a season-low 42 points.
But Arizona’s offense is on another level compared to Seton Hall. Dixon said Arizona’s offense isn’t similar to any opponent TCU has seen this season.
“They’re unique,” Dixon said. “They rotate those three bigs (Tubelis, Koloko and Oumar Ballo), and that used to be a little bit more common than it is now. It’s hard to find three really good skilled big guys and they’ve got them.
“They’re really skilled. That makes them different. I think they’re very dissimilar to really anybody. It’s a very uncommon group out there that they have, but, yet, they have good shooting, good spacing, well coached, good pace of play and depth. They have great balance offensively. That’s the biggest thing that stands out to me.”
Another 1-seed
TCU will be facing a 1-seed for the sixth time in the past 10 weeks (two games vs. Baylor, three vs. Kansas and one vs. Arizona). And the Frogs should be ready for the quick turnaround given they played seven games in a 15-day span to close the regular season.
In other words, confidence won’t be lacking when TCU takes the floor. It’d love to see another 1-seed go down like Baylor did on Saturday in Fort Worth.
“We have what it takes to beat the top teams,” Miles said. “We know we have to play the same way we did those games and like we did yesterday, on defense, rebounding, trying to stop their best players, stop them in transition.”
Added Peavy, answering a question about seeing Baylor go down: “I did watch that game. Mike is my roommate, so I was just telling him, like, we can do this.”
