Drew’s Desk: TCU Men’s Basketball closes out the regular season

The Frogs went 0-2 in their last two games of the regular season.

TCU Men’s Basketball went 0-2 in their final two games of the regular season with a loss at home to Baylor by a score of 61-58 and a loss on the road to Colorado by a score of 76-56. The Frogs finish the regular season at 16-15 and 9-11 in conference play, for ninth place in the Big 12. An at-large bid is fully off the table for the Frogs who will now have to win the Big 12 Tournament for a spot in March Madness.

Active Hands

While the Frogs did drop both of their games this week, one bright spot was the activity on defense as the Frogs consistently deflected passes, picked up steals, and forced turnovers against both Baylor and Colorado. TCU had nine steals as a team against the Bears and forced 13 Baylor turnovers. Vasean Allete and Trazarien White were especially key with Allete picking up four steals and White collecting three steals. White has shown a unique ability to read opposing ball handlers and intercept passes leading to fastbreak opportunities on the other end. Allete picks up his steals in on-ball defense, making up for a lack of size with physical point of attack effort. This trend continued against Colorado as TCU had ten steals as a team and forced 14 Colorado turnovers overall. Malick Diallo had two steals against the Buffaloes along with one block. Diallo is a bit undersized for a center at just six foot nine but has shown the potential to be a plus defender with timing blocks and steals. The result of the last two games did not go TCU’s way, but there were bright spots, especially on the defensive side of the floor.

Energy Against Colorado

The home loss against Baylor was a heartbreaker and all but eliminated the Frogs from contention for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament. Regardless, there was a disappointing lack of energy from TCU on the road against Colorado. The Frogs had a chance to win their tenth Big 12 game in a season for the first time in program history and they came out very flat. Coming into the game, Colorado had just two conference wins this season and the Frogs lost by 20 points to the Buffaloes. Some of this deficit can be attributed to bad shooting luck, but the game should have been much closer than 20 points regardless of whether or not shots were falling for TCU. After having a significant rebounding margin over Baylor in the previous game, TCU got outrebounded 45-29 against Colorado. The Buffaloes average just 35 rebounds per game as a team but collected 45 against the Frogs including 10 offensive rebounds. Colorado led TCU in fastbreak points, points in the paint, and assists in addition to rebounds. Yes, the loss to Baylor took some wind out of TCU’s sails, but the Frogs still should have put up a better fight against Colorado.

Season Overall

Considering the roster turnover and setbacks TCU faced this season, I consider 2024-2025 to be a relative success. The Frogs had just one returning rotation player from last season in Ernest Udeh, lost their best player early in the season in Frankie Collins, and still managed to win nine conference games and be in the conversation for the NCAA Tournament late in the season. This is the youngest team TCU basketball has fielded in years and had a chance to make a run down the stretch and earn an at-large bid to March Madness for the fourth straight season. It was a little disappointing to see the team stumble after the win over Texas Tech that seemingly created a ton of positive momentum, but the Frogs have identified a few players that can develop into key contributors for years to come. Vasean Allete looks comfortable as a shot creator and has developed as a passer this season. David Punch has shown flashes of being a two-way power forward with the ability to stretch the floor. Ernest Udeh looked comfortable defensively and continued to be a force on the boards. Jace Posey and Micah Robinson look like solid wings who can be contributors to a winning team. The Frogs will probably not make March Madness this season, but young players showed potential and got better as the year went on.

Highlight of the Week

Incredible individual effort from Allete on this play.

Looking Ahead

The Frogs will get a chance to avenge their loss to Colorado as they are matched up against the Buffaloes in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament at 2:00 pm on Tuesday in Kansas City. If the Frogs win that game, they will face West Virginia at 2:00 pm on Wednesday. The winner of that game will take on the number one seeded Houston Cougars at 2:00 pm on Thursday.