Men’s Basketball: Horned Frogs’ tournament hopes dashed in loss to league-worst Buffaloes

A Big 12 title may be TCU’s only hope.

The TCU Horned Frogs took on the league-worst Colorado Buffaloes for the second time of the season on March 8. The first time around, TCU defeated Colorado 68-57 behind a 19-point breakout performance from freshman David Punch. Punch and the Frogs’ second outing against the Buffaloes couldn’t have gone any different. Colorado set the tone, scoring the first five points of the afternoon against a lackadaisical TCU defense. The Frogs responded, going on a seven-to-three run. Nonetheless, the Buffaloes still maintained an advantage.

A back-and-forth between the Big 12 rivals then ensued. The Buffaloes lead only began to grow around the eight-minute mark. After a two-minute stretch where both squads failed to record a field goal, Colorado scored seven points to increase their advantage seven with just over six minutes remaining. TCU cut into the deficit, but was unable to make much of a dent—managing to trim the Buffaloes’ lead to six points. After Colorado built a nine-point lead with over a minute to go, a Trazarien White triple would cut Colorado’s lead to six entering the halftime break.

Led by White, TCU kept up with Colorado as the second-half began. The senior scored eight of the Frogs’ 10 first second-half points. Despite White’s best efforts, the Buffaloes began to pull away around the 16-minute mark. An Elijah Malone put-back followed by a Julian Hammond III triple gave Colorado a 12-point advantage after five minutes of play.

Following Hammond III’s three-pointer, the Frogs’ defense began to make a difference. TCU held the Buffaloes scoreless for five minutes of action. In the same span, the Frogs scored 11 consecutive points to make it a one point game with just over 10 minutes remaining.

After a superb showing from the defense, the intensity was all but lost as the final 10 minutes of gametime took place. The Buffaloes scored the next 12 points of the game—building a 12-point lead. A Punch layup ultimately stopped the bleeding, but not for long. The Buffaloes finished the final game of the regular season on an incredible 14-4 run. Following Punch’s basket at 6:54, the Frogs remaining points of the afternoon came via the free throw line. The Buffaloes won 76-56, notching their third win in the Big 12 and their largest victory in nearly three months.

Amid an afternoon of uninspired offense, White led the way with a season-high 21 points. The 6-foot-6 wing converted 6-of-15 field goals and 7-of-8 free throws. Noah Reynolds chipped in 12 points, while no other Horned Frog managed more than seven. TCU shot an abysmal 31.6 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Horned Frogs allowed the Buffaloes to shoot 45.6 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from three. Although Colorado turned it over 14 times, the Frogs mustered only eight points off Buffaloes’ giveaways.

Following the fourth loss in five games, TCU’s Big 12 tournament seeding plummeted to ninth. The Frogs will take on the 16th-placed Buffaloes for a third time this season on Tuesday, March 11 in Kansas City, Missouri. If the Horned Frogs come away victorious, they’ll battle the eighth-placed West Virginia Mountaineers a day later. The rest of the tournament bracket can be found below.