TCU scores NCAA Tournament-caliber win with upset of No. 18 Texas Tech
After playing two of the most horrific games in the history of the sport, TCU basketball played one of its best under Jamie Dixon.
A team picked to finish last in the Big 12 is not going to be in the dumps. Instead, TCU is now a player for an NCAA Tournament berth.
The Big 12 isn’t what it was a year ago, then again neither is TCU.
On Tuesday night, in front of what sounded at times a lot like a certain gym in Lubbock, TCU scored its biggest win in two years by defeating No. 18 Texas Tech, 65-54.
It was a fun, loud, vibrant atmosphere, and for a few minutes those in the arena may have forgotten that football receives top billing on campus. TCU’s fans even stormed the court after the win.
“Stormed” is a generous use of the word. It’s TCU. It was more of a saunter.
But by the end of the night, TCU’s home court sounded more like an advantage, as two players carried the Horned Frogs to the type of win they need when the NCAA Selection Committee determines who is in the field of 68, and which teams they are going to rob of a bid.
As TCU learned last spring, it has to have this sort of win to impress the NCAAs. A decent record in the Big 12 isn’t enough when you’re TCU.
You need quantity. You need quality.
Beating Texas Tech is quality.
TCU trailed 31-27 at the break, and found religion in the locker room. The Frogs started the second half with a 13-2 run, and their lead was never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
Credit senior guard Desmond Bane for this win. From the opening moments of the game he was assertive and unafraid to shoot. He didn’t retract, from the moment or the opponent. He finished with 27 points, including six three-pointers.
“Bane was fantastic. One of my favorite players in the Big 12,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. “He was the best player on the floor. ... The truth is we got out-competed tonight.”
TCU sophomore center Kevin Samuel was a close second. At the rate he’s improving, he may just leave TCU for the NBA after the season. Bigs do tend to leave early.
He’s still raw, but defensively he was in Tech’s way throughout. His free throw shooting is, well, horrendous, but at no point was he pulled off the floor.
When he was on the floor, Tech could not get anything going at the rim. Tech had no answer for Samuel as a rebounder or shot blocker.
Samuel finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, two blocks, and he affected countless other drives and shot attempts.
He was so much in the way that Tech continually had no choice but to settle for long jumpers, and it shot only 4 of 17 from three-point range.
On Tuesday night, TCU looked nothing like the juco version it showed over the last week.
After starting the Big 12 schedule with three straight wins, TCU lost its next two by the combined score of 435-12. Or something close to that.
The combined margin of defeats to West Virginia and Oklahoma was only 52, but, with how those games played out, TCU looked like a team that would crash its way to ninth or tenth in the league.
The team that played on Tuesday night is good enough to finish in the middle of a Big 12 which figures to look dramatically different after half of Kansas’ roster is suspended for the brawl that took place in the final seconds of its blowout win over Kansas State.
TCU’s win over Texas Tech is validation.
This is TCU’s most significant win since defeating No. 7 West Virginia in Fort Worth in January of 2018. That was TCU’s NCAA tourney year.
TCU is now 13-5, and 4-2 in the Big 12 with 13 games remaining before the conference tourney. They have time, and the team, to go back to the tournament.
This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 10:00 PM.
