Emanuel Miller’s late basket lifts TCU over Houston
TCU captured another Top 10 win on Saturday, when Emanuel Miller hit a game-winning basket with 6 seconds remaining to lift the Horned Frogs to a 68-67 win over Houston Saturday.
With the shot clock winding down, Miller cut hard to the basket and Avery Anderson whipped a quick pass to Miller who finished through contact.
“We had zero timeouts, we stayed true to our principles,” Miller said. “Avery did a great job of seeing me backdoor, but before that I think we had the discipline to have patience. A lot of teams could’ve rushed for a quick shot, we had the patience and we waited for the defense to make a mistake.”
The Horned Frogs led most of the final 20 minutes until the Cougars used an 8-0 run to take a 62-59 lead with 4:19 remaining. After a minute of scoreless basketball, Micah Peavy cut the deficit to one with a driving baseline layup.
Ernest Udeh had an opportunity to put TCU ahead 2:18 remaining with a pair of free throws, but Udeh missed both attempts. However, he rebounded his miss and was sent back to the line. Udeh missed a third free throw and Houston guard Jamal Shead hit a high-bank shot off the glass to make it 64-61 with under two minutes remaining.
A pair of free throws from Avery Anderson would get the deficit back one with 1:49 remaining. Shead hit another clutch basket with a 3-pointer, but Trevian Tennyson answered with a 3 of his own to make it 67-66 with less than a minute to ago.
The Horned Frogs got a stop on the next shot, but J’Wan Roberts rebounded the miss and was sent to the free throw line where he missed and set the stage for Miller’s moment. Houston turned the ball over on its final possession as the Cougars were unable to get ball in the hands of Shead.
“I really thought we played smart down the stretch,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “The right things happened after we used our timeout, we just executed down the stretch with no timeouts.”
Miller finished with 13 points while Tennyson had 12. Anderson had 11 points and six assists against just one turnover.
Transfer guards continue to improve
It’s been a work in progress to get Tennyson, Anderson and Jameer Nelson playing to TCU’s standard with injuries and lineup changes impacting the trio at times. On Saturday, all three continued their positive development and had big moments for the Horned Frogs.
Including his 3 with less than a minute remaining, Tennyson hit two more in the second half after being held without a field goal against Oklahoma earlier this week. Tennyson never lost his confidence and credited Anderson for continuing to trust in him.
“My teammates, Avery was putting them right on the money and I’m going to knock them down,” Tennyson said. “We’re in the gym together faithfully, it was just us having that chemistry on and off the court.”
While he left some points at the free throw line, Nelson was one of TCU’s best sources of early offense as his effort and strength drew foul after foul. In totality the trio combined for 32 points, nine assists and six 3s.
“These guards keep getting better and better,” Dixon said. “It’s fun to be a part of, they’re just such great kids. They care so much.”
Battle of the bigs
TCU’s big men haven’t been heavily involved with the offense this season with their roles being based around defense and being screeners. Against the Cougars, more was needed especially in the second half. While the overall scoring numbers still won’t jump off the page, the impact of Ernest Udeh and Xavier Cork can’t be overlooked.
With Houston trapping TCU’s ballhandlers, that left openings for the bigs to slip un-guarded to the basket and the Horned Frogs finally began exploiting this in the second half. Two buckets from Cork gave TCU a small 44-41 lead. Udeh had another big basket inside on a nice post feed to make it 53-47 midway through the second half.
“There was a little more balance,” Dixon said. “It was better, we could still use them more. We didn’t get hurt when we threw it inside. There were a few we didn’t finish, but I thought there was a good balance after we got going.”
On the opposite end, Houston big man J’Wan Roberts was a problem for TCU all night. After scoring 12 in the first half, Roberts continued to be productive in the second with eight. He scored over smaller defenders on the mismatch, grabbed 13 rebounds and even had five assists as he constantly kept possessions alive for Houston.
During a 8-0 run, Roberts made two key defensive plays that led to five points including a block of Miller and a strip of Cork. Cork’s turnover led to a corner three-point goal for Damian Dunn that put TCU behind 62-59 with less than five minutes remaining.
Gritty first half
The first 20 minutes between the Horned Frogs and Cougars resembled more of a football game than a basketball one. It was physical opening half with nearly 20 fouls and tough defense being played on both sides. TCU hit its first shot of the game, a Miller 3-pointer, and then didn’t hit another field goal for nine minutes.
Despite that the Cougars only held a 13-5 lead before Trevian Tennyson broke the scoring drought with a corner 3. Houston would eventually build a 23-11 lead as TCU struggled to penetrate the defense and settled for long jumpers.
After falling behind 23-11, the Horned Frogs answered with a 14-3 run to get back into the game. Nelson sparked the run scoring seven, including a 3-pointer. JaKobe Coles also had a crucial three-point play in his first game back in the lineup since Dec. 24. TCU went into halftime only down 31-29 despite shooting 27 percent from the field and missing seven free throws.
“It was ugly that first eight minutes,” Dixon said. “But gradually we got better. We got some transition going, I think that was part of it. You’re not going to be great offensively against them, but we were good enough down the stretch.”
This story was originally published January 13, 2024 at 7:24 PM.
