TCU men face Big 12 road test after good first impression

It has been only one conference game, and it was a loss, but TCU has made an impression in Big 12 men’s basketball.

“Oh, they’re world’s different,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said, asked how different the Horned Frogs are from a year ago, when they were winless in the league. “That’s what having better players does. More players. More players and better players.”

The Horned Frogs (13-1, 0-1) were undefeated before their 78-67 loss to Huggins and the Mountaineers last weekend. TCU coach Trent Johnson has acknowledged a modest schedule, but the Horned Frogs were winning convincingly against lesser opponents.

Saturday’s game against then 17th-ranked West Virginia was their toughest test of the season, and the Frogs led for most of the first half and had a 7-point lead in the first minute of the second half.

Huggins, whose team added a win at Texas Tech on Monday to go to 14-1 and 2-0 and No. 14, was impressed.

“Trent can coach. He’s been coach of the year in how many different leagues?” Huggins said. “He’s won everywhere he’s ever been. None of us are very good without players.”

But good impressions won’t help against Kansas State (7-7, 0-1) on Wednesday night when the Horned Frogs resume the Big 12 schedule. It is their first road game in conference.

They’ll go with confidence, despite their first loss.

“It’s not going to pull us down,” TCU guard Trent Zeigler said. “We feel like we can win every game in this league. We’ve got to come out aggressive again.”

This story was originally published January 6, 2015 at 3:50 PM with the headline "TCU men face Big 12 road test after good first impression."