Men’s Basketball: TCU ousted by Colorado in first-round of Big 12 Tournament

TCU hadn’t lost in the tournament’s first round in four years.

Coming off a 20-point loss to the worst team in the Big 12, the TCU Horned Frogs entered the Big 12 Tournament as a ninth-seed. Coincidentally, the Frogs matched up with the team whom they had just lost to—the Colorado Buffaloes. This time around, instead of squaring off against Colorado in Boulder, the two teams matched up at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Following a porous, 57-point outing to end the regular season, the Horned Frogs came out excruciatingly slow against the Buffaloes. A Vasean Allette free throw got TCU on the board near the 18-minute mark before a three-minute cold spell would ensue. However, the Frogs scoring slump was not broken by a field goal, but an Ernest Udeh Jr. free throw. TCU’s first field goal came with 12 minutes and six seconds remaining in the first half. Jace Posey knocked down a triple to cut the Buffaloes’ lead to three, 8-5.

Posey’s triple was met with a Colorado three-pointer. 20 seconds later, the freshman cashed in on his second triple and ninth of the season to help the Frogs maintain a three-point deficit. Neither team found it easy finding the bottom of the net in the first half. With five minutes remaining, the score sat at 21-15 after a Colorado free throw gave the Buffaloes a six-point advantage. Colorado increased the lead further, going up by as many as nine before the Frogs found some life on offense. Five points from Trazarien White ignited a 10-0 TCU run to gain the lead with a minute to spare.

A Julian Hammond III bucket followed by another White jumper ended the first half 27-26 in TCU’s favor. The Horned Frogs began the latter half with a similar recipe. TCU scored only one point in the first four minutes and 50 seconds. However, the Buffaloes didn’t take the Frogs’ uninspired offense for granted, scoring 14 points over same stretch of time. Three Andrej Jakimovski triples triggered the Buffaloes’ 14-1 run.

Colorado built a 14-point advantage with just under 12 and a half minutes remaining. The Horned Frogs’ offense looked out of sync while the Buffaloes made it look easy. A Noah Reynolds three-pointer eventually stopped the bleeding, cutting Colorado’s lead to 11. The Frogs continued to put points on the board, but so did the Buffaloes. The deficit held steady up until the four-minute mark. A Reynolds three-pointer would cut Colorado’s lead to single-digits.

Reynolds three-pointer was followed by an Allette jumper, then another Reynolds triple. With just under two minutes remaining, TCU had turned an insurmountable lead to a one-score game. Subsequently, a Bangot Dak dunk upped the Buffaloes’ advantage to five points out of a time out. Colorado’s five-point was short-lived, as Posey connected on his third triple of the afternoon to put the Frogs behind by two.

After a strong defensive effort, forcing an ill-advised three-point attempt, the Frogs regained possession with 33 seconds to go. Instead of bleeding the clock, the hot-handed Reynolds attempted a three-pointer to take the lead. The senior guard’s jumper bounced around the rim, ultimately being corralled by the Buffaloes. Colorado was fouled, and converted two free throws to go up by four with 20 seconds remaining. Reynolds scored a layup, only to see two more Buffaloes freebies to ice the game. The lefty scored once more to cut the deficit to two before the game clock expired. The Buffaloes defeated the Horned Frogs 69-67 to knock TCU out of the Big 12 Tournament.

The Horned Frogs were unable to overcome slow starts to both halves. The Horned Frogs ended up shooting 37.9 percent from the field and turned it over 13 times. Despite dominating the glass, especially on the offensive end (22 rebounds), TCU mustered only 18 second chance points. As was the case all season long, the Horned Frogs shot unremarkably from the foul line, converting only 10-of-20 free throw attempts.

Following a scoreless first half, Reynolds led the Horned Frogs with 17 points. White chipped in 13 and added three steals. Besides the senior duo, no other Frog reached double-digits. Allette contributed nine, as did Posey.

Although the NCAA Tournament is out of reach for the Frogs, the NIT or the inaugural College Basketball Crown remains in play. Both tournaments guarantee two Big 12 teams to receive bids. Thus, it’s likely the Jamie Dixon-led Frogs will resume play on March 18 in the NIT, or March 31 in the College Basketball Crown.