Three takeaways as TCU men’s basketball earns belated first win of the season
TCU men’s basketball got its first win of the season convincingly, beating Saint Francis 104-63 on Thursday at Schollmaier Arena in a much-welcomed blowout victory following the team’s stunning season-opening loss to New Orleans on Monday.
The Horned Frogs got off to a similarly slow start to their opener. With a little under 12 minutes left in the first half, TCU (1-1) only held an 18-16 lead over the Red Flash (0-2), with the offense looking disjointed at times.
However, the Horned Frogs turned it around, going a 35-13 run to end the first half to take a firm control of the game that they would never relinquish, thanks in part to one of their new transfers, 6-5 junior guard Tanner Toolson from Utah Valley.
TCU had to get over a season-ending injury to starting center Malick Diallo and the shocking loss to the Privateers, but what else could they do, coach Jamie Dixon asked.
“We had no choice, I mean, and it’s pretty simple,” Dixon said. “I was excited about this team, and then that [injury] happens, you know, five minutes in, and we play so poorly. But you know, you’re not gonna play great every game. We picked the first game, and certainly not the one you want to do, but we just got to keep believing in ourselves. And I appreciate the ones that were here that were believing in us and that we’re going to come back and learn from it. So that’s what we gotta do.”
Here are three takeaways from Thursday’s win:
Tanner Toolson’s offensive aggression
Toolson, like many of the Horned Frogs, struggled in his first game, going 0-for-4 from 3, but turned in a shooting clinic Thursday. On a team that has struggled with 3-point shooting the past two seasons, Toolson was a more than willing shooter, letting shots fly when open with good results.
Toolson went 3-for-4 from 3-point range in the first half and was more than a one-trick pony, with several drives into the paint while showing some ability to draw fouls and playing with a relentlessness that occasionally veered into recklessness with two turnovers.
Tolson talked about his hot shooting and the team’s mentality following that first loss.
“I think on Monday we had a rough showing, and we came in today with our backs against the wall, and I think as a team, we came together, and our goal is just to play as hard as we could. And that worked out for me today, and so we just got to keep rolling, moving forward,” Toolson said. “As a shooter, you got to have a really short memory, and so some games are not going to shoot well, and unfortunately, we had a lot of those ... on Monday, me included.
“And so every single day, you just keep putting the same reps and trust your work that you put in all summer, and nights like this will happen, and nights like Monday will happen. Just got to find a way to win no matter what.”
He finished the first half with 15 points and ended the game with 25 points (4-for-5 on 3s) with two rebounds and a block.
Xavier Edmonds steps up in Malick Diallo’s absence
TCU lost Diallo for the year before the first half of its season opener was over, and junior college transfer Xavier Edmonds played well in the Mali native’s absence Thursday.
Edmonds had 12 points with nine rebounds and a block and went 8-for-9 from the free throw line while drawing a plethora of fouls in the paint.
His aggression was also there on the offensive boards, as he pulled down a game-high six while no one else on either team had more than two.
Three-point shooting woes continue
Despite TCU’s massive win, the issue of 3-point shooting remains large. TCU signed several transfers with the hopes they would allow the team to buck last season’s struggles from behind the arc, but that has not materialized yet.
Toolson shot 4-for-5, and Oregon State transfer Liutauras Lelevicius was 2-for-5, but the rest of the team shot 6-for-23 (26.1%), a number inflated by a late flurry of makes.
Dixon acknowledged the team had a better performance from 3 than in the opener but said the Horned Frogs would need to be better as tougher competition approached.
“We want [3-pointers] to be about 40% of our shots, which is what we did the other day,” he said. “We think we’re a very good 3-point shooting team. You saw a better performance today, and we have been good, but it’s been interesting. ... I mean, getting an open shot has not been a problem for us, but we’re going to face some really good defensive teams, and we’ll see if we continue to do that, but we’ve got to continue to take open shots.”
TCU will next play Lamar at 7 p.m. Monday at Schollmaier Arena, then a marquee matchup with No. 7-ranked Michigan looms on Nov. 14.
The Horned Frogs will need to make their 3s to have a chance to upset the Wolverines.
This story was originally published November 6, 2025 at 9:04 PM.
