TCU beats Kansas State 63-62 in a thriller for first Big 12 win of the season
TCU earned its first Big 12 win of the season by beating the Kansas State Wildcats 63-62 on Saturday at Schollmaier arena
After trailing for much of the late portion of the game, Noah Reynolds, who achieved a career milestone on Saturday, slithered around a Kansas State defender and hit a layup with 12 seconds remaining that gave the Horned Frogs a one-point lead.
On the final possession, the Wildcats’ Dug McDaniel attempted a layup but couldn’t get the shot to fall.
The victory was the Horned Frogs’ first in-conference win of the season after they lost their Big 12 season opener 90-81 to the Arizona Wildcats.
Noah Reynolds hits career milestone
Reynolds scored the 1,000th point of his college career in the win with his first bucket of the game and was one of the Horned Frogs main scoring threats throughout the game.
Since the team lost point guard Frankie Collins Jr., Reynolds has taken on more offensive responsibility, and the Green Bay transfer led TCU in scoring with 18 points, 12 in the second half — including the game-winning basket.
Reynolds described what he saw before hitting the game-winning bucket.
“Coach had been drawing up a drag screen for me for a little bit, and I just hadn’t got to it yet,” said Reynolds, “[Kansas State defenders] were giving up the reject a lot. So I rejected, kind of hostage dribbled, and then I realized my man was a little behind me, so I had an open look at the lane, really, just because of the way these guys space the floor it allows the lane to have so [many] gaps.”
Wildcats dominate the Frogs on the boards
Rebounding has been a concern for the Horned Frogs all season, and it continued on Saturday: TCU was out-rebounded 47-36 by the Wildcats.
David N’Guessan was the only Wildcat in double digits on the boards but almost single-handedly out-rebounded TCU in the first half before finishing the game with 17 rebounds. TCU had 18 first-half rebounds to N’Guessan’s 14.
TCU head coach Jamie Dixon said the team needed players outside big man Ernest Udeh, who had 12 rebounds, to have an impact on the boards.
“The rebounding, obviously, is a disappointment, and that’s the only thing that I’ll say about us, that we just didn’t get it done on that end,” said Dixon, “We have to be an elite rebounding [team]. We got to take care of the basketball, which we’re doing, and become a better rebounding team. We can’t have Ernest getting all the rebounds, he had 12,14 last game, this is on the other guys.”
TCU’s struggles on the glass were one of the few blemishes on an otherwise strong defensive performance.
Wildcats struggle from behind the arc
TCU never allowed Kansas State to settle into any rhythm on offense, especially from three-point range where the Wildcats shot 21.4%. K-State came into the game shooting 36% on three-pointers on the season.
Despite their low shooting percentage, the Wildcats would not be deterred. The took 28 shots from three over the game and made six.
TCU’s defense contested almost every shot by the Wildcats while applying constant pressure. K-State finished with 12, to only 16 assists, yet Dixon still saw room for improvement from the Horned Frogs.
“We’re kind of still figuring ourselves out but liked how we did down the stretch, and we finally got the defense to do what we needed it to do. Hold them to 39% but we’ve got work to do,” said Dixon.
Reynolds echoed Dixon’s comments saying the team had to clean up miscues on that end of the floor.
“It felt like they could get to whatever they wanted to in the second half. I mean, that’s something we definitely gotta go back and watch the film on why it was so easy for them. But you know, you know winning solves a lot. We got quick turnaround here, so we’ll watch the film, scrap it, see what we can do to get better,” said Reynolds.
In the first half, TCU held the Wildcats to 26.1% shooting from the field and 13.6% from three but allowed Kansas State to improve those numbers to 54.8% and 50% in the second half.
TCU will be back in action against last season’s regular season Big 12 champions, the Houston Cougars, at 8 p.m. on Monday at the Fertitta Center.
This story was originally published January 4, 2025 at 5:31 PM.
