Men’s Basketball: TCU keeps tournament hopes following win over UCF

The Frogs are back in bubble mode.

No longer are the days of shoddy offense. After four straight games of scoring less than 70 points, the TCU Horned Frogs hung 89 on the UCF Knights. The last time TCU had reached the 80-point plateau was on December 30, in a loss to the Arizona Wildcats. This time around, the Horned Frogs won, 89-78. TCU is now 16-13 this season and 9-9 in Big 12 play. Fast-paced offense was the name of the game for the Frogs. TCU scored the first seven points of the contest and 17 of the first 23. Six Horned Frogs recorded a field goal in the first 10 minutes of action, including freshman Jace Posey, who made his first career start against the Knights.

The next five minutes of game time fell in TCU’s favor. Following three straight three-pointers from UCF to bridge the gap, the Horned Frogs scored the next nine points to regain their 17-point lead. Another Knights’ triple halted TCU’s run, but only for 20 seconds. Over the next minute of action, TCU built its first 20 point lead of the afternoon, 41-20 with five minutes to go. A dry spell then ensued, as UCF went three minutes without a bucket. The Horned Frogs were unable to take advantage of the Knights’ scoring woes. Nonetheless, TCU maintained its insurmountable first-half lead, entering the break with a 19-point advantage. 49 points was the second-most total in any half this season.

The Frogs’ offense wasn’t nearly as ho-hum in the second-half. It took the Horned Frogs six minutes to tally double-digits. UCF kept up, but wasn’t much better. The Knight scored 12 points through the 14 minute mark. Following two Keyshawn Hall free throws to cut TCU’s lead to 15, the Big 12’s leading scorer relentless attacking style was halted by TCU’s Malick Diallo, who rejected Hall at the rim in emphatic fashion.

However, the highlight-worthy block was one of the last impressive defensive plays. As the pace picked up, the two squads all but abandoned defense. TCU held a steady lead from the 10-minute to the six-minute-mark, before the Knights started chipping away.

Following a Micah Robinson triple and layup, the Knights went on a 13-7 run to narrow the deficit to 11 with just under four minutes to go. TCU wasn’t phased. Even though a Darius Johnson bucket gave the Knights a chance, the Frogs kept their foot on the gas. TCU converted 7-of-12 free throws in the final three minutes to seal the victory—89-78.

TCU saw five players reach double-digits. Vasean Allette led TCU in scoring, with 17. The sophomore also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out nine assists. Ernest Udeh Jr. tied his career-high with 16 points. The big man tallied 11 rebounds and converted all six of his field goal attempts. David Punch scored 14, Robinson 12, and Posey 10. The Frogs shot 47.8 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from beyond the arc. Of TCU’s 33 field goals, 17 were assisted. TCU’s attacking play style led to 28 free throw attempts.

Although TCU was absent from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology, this won is a boon for the Frogs’ tournament hopes. The Horned Frogs have two games left. Tuesday night against the Baylor Bears in Fort Worth, and next Saturday versus the Big 12’s worst team—the Colorado Buffaloes.