TCU men’s basketball gearing up for final exhibition against John Calipari, Arkansas
TCU men’s basketball has one more final tune-up before the start of the season as the Horned Frogs will face John Calipari and Arkansas on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. at Dickies Arena.
It’s the second exhibition TCU has participated in and the Horned Frogs will hope for a better result after reportedly falling to Texas 80-52 in scrimmage Oct. 19 in San Antonio. Lopsided score aside, it’s not really the result of the scrimmage that head coach Jamie Dixon is worried about.
The games don’t court and oftentimes, different players are held out of these games, but do provide valuable insight into where teams stand before the season starts.
“We had a couple guys out in our game (against Texas), but these are the games in October and we wanted to find the best team we could play,” Dixon said Tuesday. “Honestly we did that with who we’re playing. I want to see improvement defensively and rebounding. We knew we weren’t where we needed to be a couple weeks ago, but we wanted an early game with all of our new guys.
“We’ve been focused so much on offense in the summer with just two percent of our scoring back, we’re in a unique situation. A lot of teams are similar, but I don’t know anybody that returns that amount of scoring.”
It’s not a surprise that the offense is a work in progress, but facing defenses like Texas and now Arkansas is exactly what the Horned Frogs need to continue growing as a unit with so many new faces.
The Razorbacks will have many new players too this season with five new transfers including three players that followed Calipari from Kentucky. One of those is former five-star guard D.J. Wagner, but Arkansas’ biggest pick up in the transfer portal was former Florida Atlantic star Johnell Davis.
The Razorbacks will also bring in three five-star freshmen led by Boogie Fland and Billy Richmond. Fland scored 22 points in Arkansas’ exhibition win against Kansas and projects to be the next star guard Calipari has produced.
It’s unclear who will play for Arkansas, but only one player was held out against the Jayhawks, so TCU could be facing Arkansas’ full squad on Friday. It’s a challenge, but a necessary one to prepare for the rigors of Big 12 play.
Beyond just matching up with Arkansas’ talent, there will also be a different format as the two teams will play four quarters instead of two halves at the request of Calipari. This will allow both teams to work on four end of clock scenarios with different players.
Here’s more things to watch during TCU’s scrimmage:
Status of Udeh
Ernest Udeh is the only returning player from the rotation last season and the only true big on TCU’s roster with experience. That alone makes him arguably the most important player on the team and Dixon has been pushing Udeh all off-season with that in mind.
“We need him to be better, he didn’t play great (against Texas),” Dixon said. “We need him to be the best big guy on the floor. That’s what we need and he’s been in and out with injuries... He didn’t practice (Monday). Ernest, he’s the two percent of our scoring back. He’s a great teammate, great personality, but we need production and that’s what we’ve talked to him about and leadership.”
If Udeh is available, the Arkansas frontcourt will challenge him as the Razorbacks have returner Trevon Brazile and Kentucky transfer Zvonimir Ivišić manning the paint. TCU will also likely give extended minutes to freshmen forwards David Punch and Malick Diallo.
Dixon said Diallo has been the surprise of the preseason after missing most of his senior season with a torn ACL. Diallo looked like an early redshirt candidate, but could be working his way up into the rotation.
Emerging guards
A hierarchy seems to be starting to form in TCU’s backcourt as Dixon sighted Arizona State transfer Frankie Collins and Green Bay transfer Noah Reynolds as the two leaders of the guards.
“There are two that have elevated and it’s the two that we’ve been expecting, that’s Noah and Frankie,” Dixon said. “Frankie played on NCAA Tournament teams, he’s experienced and a pass first guard. He got hurt in the first scrimmage and we struggled after that. His first practice back was yesterday.
“Noah has been our best player, our most consistent player throughout practice. He’s done the best job of decision-making and making open shots.”
Behind Collins and Reynolds is an emerging Vasean Allette, an Old Dominion transfer that averaged 17.4 points per game last season.
“He’s playing well, he’s probably the guy that’s improved the most,” Dixon said. “He’s adapted and improving his game. He had two really good practices, he’s the third guard, which we anticipated. Our hope is that our three guards are better than our three guards last year.”
With Arkansas having so much firepower in the backcourt, it should be a good test for TCU’s group of guards.
