KANSAS CITY, Mo. — TCU’s run in the Big 12 tournament came to end in a close 66-60 loss to the Texas Longhorns Friday night in the tournament semifinals.
It was one of the more frustrating games for a team to be in as TCU trailed by two or three possessions the entire night. Every time the Horned Frogs cut the deficit to two or three points, the Longhorns had a response or TCU’s offense would go into a scoring drought.
With 4:47 remaining, the game was well within reach as the Horned Frogs only trailed 60-56. But TCU went over three minutes without a field goal as the Horned Frogs couldn’t convert good looks.
Emanuel Miller missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity. Mike Miles Jr. wasn’t able to knock down an open 3 and Micah Peavy had a layup blocked.
Texas finally broke the scoring drought with a tough layup inside by Marcus Carr that made it 62-56 with 2:02 remaining.
That ended up being the game-deciding shot as the Horned Frogs were eliminated from the Big 12 tournament. Texas will face Kansas in the Big 12 tournament championship game on Saturday.
Size advantage
The success of the Texas frontcourt ended up being the difference. Dylan Disu and Christian Bishop were able to impose their will on both sides of the court. Disu scored 12 points in the first half and then Bishop began to take over in the second half.
After TCU cut it to 46-44, Bishop soared through the lane for a one-handed put-back slam to seize momentum. When he wasn’t throwing down dunks, Bishop was swatting shots on defense as TCU struggled to finish inside against Bishop or Disu.
The tone of the game suited both their styles as the referees allowed plenty of contact at the rim. JaKobe Coles was productive at the five spot again, but as a hole the Horned Frogs’ frontcourt couldn’t match the Longhorns. Xavier Cork was scoreless and spent most of the night in foul trouble. Souleymane Doubia only played three minutes.
Disu and Bishop scored 15 points each and combined for 15 rebounds. Let’s not forget the six blocked shots and countless others that were altered on defense.
Miles’ response
Texas held Miles to just one point and no field goals in TCU’s win in Fort Worth on March 1. Miles is too good of a player to let that happen again. It took him two minutes of gametime to exceed that as he hit a slashing layup to tie the game at 2.
Miles only scored one more time in the first half and Texas collapsed on him hard every time he got back to the rim. If you want a sense of how physical the game was, keep in mind Miles didn’t attempt a free throw despite the countless times his body hit the ground on a shot attempt. After showing visible frustration, Miles settled down and helped TCU try to mount a rally.
After a Marcus Carr 3-pointer put Texas ahead by seven, Miles immediately answered with a corner 3 to make it 60-56 with 4:47 remaining. Miles would add another 3-pointer later to finish with 15 points in a bounce back game that wasn’t enough.
Physical struggle
Unlike the first two matchups, TCU was unable to build a big first half lead on the Longhorns. Texas led the entire half in what became a physical battle between the in-state rivals. The refs let both teams play with each team only shooting two free throws a piece in the half.
Disu was the early difference as he controlled the paint and made six of his seven shots. Disu helped Texas maintain a 27-23 lead with just 3:11 remaining before halftime. At that moment every single Texas point, except for one made free throw, came from the paint with TCU being outscored 26-12.
After the Longhorns went up six with 2:33 remaining in the half, O’Bannon drilled a corner 3-pointer to make it 29-26, but the Longhorns scored two quick baskets in the final 60 seconds to take a solid 34-26 halftime lead. Even without starting forward Timmy Allen, Texas was able to use its size advantage to maintain early control of the contest.
