Men’s Basketball: Noah Reynolds lifts TCU over Kansas State with late basket

The Horned Frogs came back from six points to take down the Wildcats 63-62.

The TCU Horned Frogs narrowly defeated the Kansas State Wildcats 63-62 behind staunch defense and a late Noah Reynolds floater to secure the first conference victory of the season. Following a narrow loss to the Arizona Wildcats, TCU returned to Fort Worth to take on the Jerome Tang-led Wildcats. Both at 7-5, Kansas State and TCU entered conference play with much on the line.

Brenden Wenzel returned to the lineup, but Head Coach Jamie Dixon preferred continuity as he rolled out the same starting five against Arizona. Alongside Reynolds, Vasean Allette, Trazarien White, David Punch, and Ernest Udeh Jr. opened the contest. Led by Illinois transfer Coleman Hawkins, the Wildcats started strong, scoring six points in less than three minutes before TCU took the lead and stayed in front for all of the first half. On the same day Reynolds scored the go-ahead bucket to give TCU the win over Kansas State, Reynolds reached 1,000 career points in the first half of action.

Reynolds ended the first half with six points, as TCU’s scoring was evenly dispersed across the roster. Eight of the 10 Horned Frogs who entered the game scored in the first half. Despite playing less than 10 minutes, TCU’s freshman trio of Isaiah Manning, Micah Robinson, and Malick Diallo all converted on first half field goals. Besides the well-rounded offense, the Horned Frogs’ defense terrorized the Wildcats’ offense in the first 20 minutes of action. The Frogs held the Wildcats to a sub-25 percent mark from the field in the first half.

Following the low-scoring start to the game, Kansas State kicked off the second half with a Hawkins three-pointer to tie the game at 27. The Frogs built as much of a six-point lead before allowing an 8-0 run to see Kansas State go ahead with under 14 minutes to go. After allowing another minor run, the Horned Frogs tied the game behind a White triple—his second of three on the day.

The first half of the final 10 minutes were marred in missed field goals and fouls. Wildcat’s star forward Coleman Hawkins picked up his fourth foul with just over seven minutes to go, forcing the fifth-year senior to sit out the next minutes of action. With Hawkins on the pine, Michigan transfer Dug McDaniel kept Kansas State afloat. McDaniel scored all 12 of his points in the second half. The Horned Frogs faced an uphill climb, losing the lead and going down by as many as six points with three minutes to play. Stout defense and a late triple by Wenzel narrowed the Wildcats’ lead to one with 1:17 to play.

Hawkins returned the game and immediately made a difference. The forward blocked a White layup attempt with 25 seconds left to essentially end the Frogs’ comeback attempt. However, Udeh fouled the right guy, as Kansas State big man David N’Guessan missed the front end of a one-and-one, leading to a final possession for the Horned Frogs. Instead of running a predetermined play, Reynolds took matters into his owns hands, finishing a knifing drive with a smooth floater to give TCU a one-point advantage with 12 seconds to go.

The Wildcats were given one more opportunity to steal the game back, ultimately coming up short as McDaniel narrowly missed a layup. The ball was batted in the air while the clock struck zero as TCU came away victorious. Reynolds led the way with 18 points. Allette and White scored 14 points apiece, while Udeh hauled in 12 rebounds and dished out four assists. McDaniel led the Wildcats with his 12 points, closely followed by Hawkins’ 11, N’Guessan’s 10, and Brendan Hausen’s 10.

On the heels of their first Big 12 win, TCU will head south to take on the Houston Cougars on Monday, January 6. The 14th-ranked Cougars are winners of six straight, including a 86-55 shellacking of the BYU Cougars earlier today.