Bench depth helps fuel TCU’s 9-0 basketball start

Things are so different for the TCU men this year, their No. 3 scorer does not even start.

Kenrich Williams is averaging 8.9 points off the bench, third-best on the team, as the unbeaten Horned Frogs — already having matched their total of nine wins from a year ago — get ready for a game against McNeese State (4-2) on Saturday night.

The contributions on the frontline from Williams, a 6-foot-7 sophomore from Waco, paired with 6-8 starting forward Chris Washburn, are part of the reason the Horned Frogs are 9-0. They give the Frogs size and length they were missing in going 9-22 last season and 11-21 the season before.

“We didn’t have anything like that,” TCU coach Trent Johnson said of Williams (8.9 points, 6.3 points, 61.5 percent shooting). “I don’t look at him like a bench guy. I look at Kenrich as one of our top three or four players. We didn’t have that last year. We didn’t have a guy like Chris Washburn last year – a lot of things we didn’t have last year. We’re a more complete team.”

Washburn, a 6-8 sophomore starter at forward, averages 8.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and shoots 54.7 percent.

“Kenrich has been really, really consistent in terms of his effort and playing within the framework of the offense and playing within the framework of what we want to do defensively,” Johnson said. “And for the most part, Chris has, too. Both of those guys are very unselfish. Chris is always looking to pass, he’s never trying to force the issue. And Kenrich is the same.”

Fields update

Senior forward Amric Fields has scored 14, 11 and 10 points in the past three games, so he may be showing signs of returning to full health.

But Johnson said the knee injury Fields is coming back from is not easy to leave behind.

“If he was all the way back, he’d be able to rack more loose balls, he’d be able to rebound above the rim,” Johnson said. “When you have surgery like that, you’re never gonig to be all the way back. That’s just the nature of the surgery; he’ll never be all the way back. But he’s got to play through things. He’s got to help us defensively.”

Fields has five blocks in the five games he has played. He is averaging 9.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and is shooting 56.3 percent.

No break yet

Johnson said the holiday season is a test for every team, and he’s watching how his team handles it.

“I told them their maturity and discipline is going to be tested here before Christmas,” he said. “Christmas is Dec. 23.”

Johnson explained:

“I told them at shootaround, ‘I’m a little nervous because I don’t know how many of you guys – good or bad, regardless of what happens – can go tell your family and friends that you need to get back to your room, get ready to go to class, get your rest.’ Or do you want to get caught up in all the noise? That’s a comfort zone. If you want to get out of your comfort zone, you’ll have plenty of time to do that come Dec. 23rd to the 26th because you’ll have three days off then.”

Briefly

▪ TCU is the last unbeaten team in the Big 12 and one of nine unbeatens in the country.

▪ Trent Johnson has never started a season 10-0 as a head coach.

▪ TCU has outrebounded the opponent eight times, matching its total from a year ago.

▪ Kyan Anderson needs 15 points to become No. 11 on the TCU scoring list.

▪ The Dec. 29 game against Tennessee State will be played at the University Rec Center.

This story was originally published December 12, 2014 at 8:58 AM with the headline "Bench depth helps fuel TCU’s 9-0 basketball start."