TCU’s Sweet dream is over: 3 takeaways from loss to No. 1 Duke in NCAA tourney — PHOTOS
TCU men’s basketball’s quest for the program’s first Sweet 16 trip came to end Saturday, as the No. 9-seeded Horned Frogs fell 81-58 to overall No. 1 seed Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m certainly proud of our team, proud of how we handled some adversity today and still had the lead with 16 minutes left,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “We certainly had a lot of adversity early on in the game and into the second half, but just proud of how they battled.”
After trailing by four at halftime, TCU (23-12) started the second half hot, briefly taking a 40-38 lead thanks to a 6-0 run. The teams exchanged blows, and the game was tied at 44 with 13:56 remaining.
But that’s when the game turned. Duke (34-2) went on a 24-6 run over the next seven minutes as fouls quickly began to stack up on the Horned Frogs.
TCU went over four minutes without scoring at one point. It didn’t help that third-team All-Big 12 forward Xavier Edmonds played just two minutes in the second half due to foul trouble. The junior center fouled out with six minutes remaining.
“Obviously we had some challenges,” Dixon said. “Guys had foul trouble. Our rotation wasn’t what we wanted it to be. I think our defense wasn’t the way we wanted it to be. But the rebounding sticks out. I think we were not physical enough to come up with the rebounds. Having guys not available was a big factor. We had the lead, but things didn’t seem to go our way after that.”
Sophomore forward Micah Robinson led TCU with 18 points.
Duke advances to face the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 4 seed Kansas and No. 5 St. John’s in the Sweet 16.
Here are three more takeaways from the game:
Big man battle
Despite sharing the court with potential National Player of the Year Cameron Boozer and another former five-star recruit in Patrick Ngongba, Edmonds was the best big man on the floor in the first half Saturday.
Edmonds outplayed Boozer in the first half, outscoring him 12-2, helping to keep TCU in the game while sophomore forward David Punch was limited to two first-half points.
Punch took two elbows to the face and was bleeding throughout the first half, and he drew a flagrant-one foul on Boozer late in the second half. As productive as Edmonds was in the first, he picked up three fouls, including his third with just 50.9 seconds remaining in the half.
Edmonds missed large chunks of the second half, as he picked up his fourth foul with 14:27 remaining after he didn’t start the second due to the fouls. Edmonds went scoreless in the second half, while Punch was held to just four points and two rebounds.
“I honestly feel like I didn’t show enough,” Edmonds said. “I fouled out early and could’ve did more in the second half.”
Boozer picked up most of his points with the game already decided. He finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Picking up the slack
The Horned Frogs had success against Boozer in the first half. However, TCU didn’t have the same type of success slowing down his wingman, sophomore guard Isaiah Evans, who was Duke’s primary scoring option in the first 20 minutes.
He knocked down two 3-pointers and scored 13 in the first half to help the Blue Devils lead 38-34 at halftime despite the lack of production from Boozer. The ACC Player of the Year came alive in the second half with 17 points, but the role players on the Blue Devils allowed Boozer time to find his rhythm.
Evans finished with 17 points, while freshman Dame Sarr added 14 points and four 3-pointers. Sarr was just 2-of-17 from 3 in postseason play entering Saturday.
“He’s a good player,” TCU senior guard Jayden Pierre said. “They made adjustments. We came out, and we had a good game plan for [Boozer]. Some of the other guys going early, and he was able to find his groove later after we started to have to help on them.”
Free throw disparity
It wouldn’t be a Duke game if officiating didn’t play some type of role in the outcome. Many TCU fans will likely lament the foul disparity between the two teams. Duke entered the bonus with over 10 minutes remaining in the first and second halves and shot 23 free throws compared to 10 for the Horned Frogs.
“They made all their free throws. That stood out,” Dixon said. “We only got to the line [10 times]. We’re a team that gets to the line a lot. We lead the [Big 12] in free throw attempts, didn’t happen today.”
After TCU tied the game at 44 on a layup from Pierre, the amount of whistles increased, with Duke going on a 9-0 run as Boozer and his twin Cayden converted back-to-back three point plays.
There was a flagrant foul assessed to junior guard Tanner Toolson and even Dixon picked up a technical foul after he argued about a missed goaltending call.
Duke outscored TCU 20-6 during that decisive run, but the Horned Frogs can’t put it all on the refs. The Blue Devils also received key shots from their role players as Sarr and freshman Nikolas Khamenia hit 3s during the run.
TCU also shot 26% in the second half.
This story was originally published March 21, 2026 at 6:53 PM.
