After looking like a clear contender in non-conference play, TCU has come back to earth in Big 12 play. The Horned Frogs have looked like a team whose non-conference schedule was getting exposed, as for all their success, the slate doesn’t look as good now as it did then. With still a month to go, they were losing margin for error seemingly rapidly.
Then Wednesday night came, when they almost lost a lot more. Fortunately for them, “almost” is the key word. J.D. Miller made sure of it.
TCU led by 13 in the second half, but visiting Oklahoma State came back quickly and used a 16-2 run to grab the lead, and turned it into a 24-4 run to lead by as many as seven. The short-handed Cowboys, down to just seven scholarship players, still led 65-60 late in the game and had a shot to steal one in Fort Worth.
At that point, TCU scored the next eight points to grab the lead, then the Cowboys tied it on a Thomas Dziagwa three-pointer with 5.6 seconds left.
Miller got the ball in the final seconds, dribble to the right side of the basket and went up with a shot as time was about to expire. He was able to hang in the air and get it over the out-stretched arms of a defender, and the shot dropped with seemingly no time left – officials put 0.3 seconds back on the clock and left time for one more unsuccessful chance – and ultimately TCU had a 70-68 win after all.
The win puts the Horned Frogs at 4-5 in Big 12 play, with five of their remaining games at home. They have wins over Baylor and Texas, but probably need more. Fortunately, they don’t have too many games left like Wednesday that are more about avoiding a bad loss – they have to go to Stillwater and Morgantown, and depending on how things go, a visit from Oklahoma and a season-ending trip to Texas could become land mines as well.
TCU’s non-conference run was impressive, though the quality wins were lacking. Their best wins were over CSU Bakersfield, Fresno State, USC (a 35-point demolishing at the Staples Center) and Bucknell – none of them NCAA Tournament locks by a long shot. They won the Diamond Head Classic with three double-digit wins over Charlotte, Bucknell and Indiana State. In the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, they beat Florida, at best a bubble team, though that will come in handy if both are on the bubble and in similar standing. The only loss was to Atlantic Sun leader Lipscomb, and as it’s the only one of its kind, you can give them a small pass even though an NCAA Tournament-caliber team in the Big 12 should beat a team like that.
A loss on Wednesday night, which seemed quite possible for a time, would have been a blow to the Horned Frogs. It would have helped shine more of a light on the lack of resume-building wins in non-conference, impressive though they looked. For now, they avoid a bad loss and continue on with more quality win opportunities ahead.
Side Dishes
Villanova is now off to their best Big East start ever, improving to 10-0 with a 66-59 overtime win over Creighton. The game was a dandy as neither team led by more than four points in regulation, then the Wildcats had too much in the extra session. Elsewhere in the Big East, Providence suffered another home loss, this one coming by a 76-67 margin against Georgetown to fall into a last-place tie with Xavier.
Texas got a big win in Austin, taking care of a Baylor team that was looking to get back into a tie for first with Kansas State by a score of 84-72. In snapping Baylor’s six-game winning streak, Texas evens their Big 12 mark at 5-5 but also continues the trend of being a tough team to figure out.
LSU went to Starkville and pulled out a 92-88 overtime win over Mississippi State as Naz Reid continued his great play with 29 points and nine rebounds, none of those points being bigger than a late three-pointer that bounced off the front rim and in. He had 25 points after intermission. After a brief shooting slump, Reid has been better the last two games, going 10-17 from the field on Wednesday, and he outdid Mississippi State star Quinndary Weatherspoon, who had 27 points on 11-17 shooting in the loss. Elsewhere in SEC play, Ole Miss edged Texas A&M 75-71, sending the Aggies to 1-8 in conference play, and Alabama took care of Georgia 89-74.
In the Big Ten, road teams ruled the night as Maryland continued Nebraska’s misery with a 60-45 win in Lincoln behind 13 points and 19 rebounds from Bruno Fernando, and Wisconsin went to Minneapolis and beat Minnesota 56-51 as Ethan Happ had 15 points and 13 rebounds against Jordan Murphy’s 16 and 19 for Minnesota.
In the Atlantic 10, Davidson stayed on top by taking care of Rhode Island 68-53 behind 20 points and 12 rebounds from John Axel Gudmundsson, while VCU stayed on their heels with a 60-50 win at George Washington. George Mason, meanwhile, fell two games back as they went to Richmond and lost 81-67 behind 28 points from Jacob Gilyard. Duquesne fell further back with a 51-49 home loss to surging St. Bonaventure, who has won three of four.
One other eye-popping result in the east was Temple handling UConn 81-63 in a game that wasn’t even that close. The Owls ran out to a 46-20 halftime lead, aided by hitting 10 of their first 11 shots and 18 of 29 overall in the opening frame.
Things are getting interesting in the Sun Belt. Georgia State went on the road and lost at UL Monroe 82-76, which drops them to 7-3, tied with three others in the loss column. Meanwhile, Georgia Southern handled Louisiana 103-86 on the road behind 32 points from Tookie Brown to get within a game of the Panthers.
Out west, Cal remained winless in Pac-12 play as Oregon took care of them 83-72 in Eugene, while Big West leaders UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara both won at home to stay right with each other, the Anteaters remaining a game ahead in the loss column.
There is some off-court news out west as Arizona has suspended assistant coach Mark Phelps indefinitely and is working to terminate him. In a statement, the school alluded to NCAA and Pac-12 rules, and according to ESPN he is accused of a violation with the transcripts of one-time recruit Shareef O’Neal, the son of former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal. After initially committing to Arizona, O’Neal instead ended up at UCLA and is sitting out this season due to a heart condition. But ESPN’s report suggests this story may be a lot bigger. While Phelps is not accused of anything regarding the FBI investigation, in which Arizona has been a central player, the Arizona Board of Regents will meet on Thursday and there is some suggestion that Phelps is a target to help get to a bigger one: head coach Sean Miller.
Tonight’s Menu
The late is a little heavier, including busy slates in the CAA and Northeast Conference.
- It’s a big night in the American Athletic Conference as Houston visits UFC and Cincinnati travels to Memphis (7 p.m.)
- Wright State hosts Oakland in a battle of two teams right behind Northern Kentucky, who hosts Detroit Mercy (7 p.m.)
- In the Southern Conference, Wofford puts their undefeated mark on the line as they visit East Tennessee State (7 p.m.)
- The Sun Belt has a key matchup between two 6-3 teams on the slate as Coastal Carolina visits UT Arlington (8 p.m.)
- Gonzaga gets a challenge at home from San Francisco (9 p.m.), while two other WCC matchups close out the night as BYU at Portland and Pacific at Saint Mary’s both tip at 11 p.m.
- In the Pac-12, Washington puts their undefeated mark on the line at Arizona (9 p.m.), while Oregon State hosts Stanford (10 p.m.)
