Men’s Basketball: TCU scrapes by South Alabama

The Horned Frogs held off the Jaguars thanks to a strong defensive effort.

Following an eight-day hiatus, the TCU Horned Frogs returned to the hardwood to battle the South Alabama Jaguars. TCU defeated South Alabama in wire-to-wire battle 58-49. Vasean Allette led all scorers with 14, followed by Trazarien White’s 13-point game. Ernest Udeh Jr. recorded his second double-double of the season, adding 10 points and bringing down 11 rebounds. It was Udeh’s third career double-double. In the wake of Frankie Collins’ injury news, TCU trotted out Allette, White, and Udeh alongside forward David Punch and guard Noah Reynolds. Brendan Wenzel, who injured his ankle in the loss to Vanderbilt, missed his first game of the season.

The Horned Frogs started slowly with the new starting five. After a White three-pointer to open the game, TCU went nearly three minutes before making another field goal, turning the ball over twice in the same timeframe. South Alabama built a 10-6 lead before a Micah Robinson three cut the deficit to one. Four points was the Jaguars’ largest lead of the night. The squads went back and forth for the rest of the first half. The lead changed six more times before Allette converted a tip-shot to build a three-point advantage with less than four minutes to go. TCU kept the lead, going into halftime 30-28 behind eight points apiece from Udeh and White.

South Alabama quickly tied the game at 30, less than a minute into the second half. After a Punch bucket put the Frogs’ back in front, Jaguars’ guard Myles Corley tied it up at 32 all with a layup. Both team’s continued to go back and forth through the first 10 minutes of the second half. A Jace Posey layup granted TCU the lead with just over 10 minutes to go and the Horned Frogs never looked back. A stellar defensive performance held the Jaguars to 42 points for over seven minutes of action. South Alabama failed to convert a field goal from the 11:15 to 4:27 mark. During this stretch, the Horned Frogs built a six-point lead. TCU began pulling away late in the game, scoring 10 points to South Alabama’s five over the last four minutes of action.

Despite a poor shooting performance, the Horned Frogs dominated the game defensively, holding the Jaguars to 49 points and a 17-of-51 shooting performance. It was the Jaguars first time being held under 50 this season, and the first time in over a year. South Alabama converted only 33.3 percent of their field goals and 26.9 percent of their triples. TCU forced 12 Jaguars’ turnovers and accumulated eight steals on the night. Aside from picturesque defense, TCU won the rebounding battle 40-30. South Alabama’s zone defense made life tough for the Horned Frogs’ offense, which was exacerbated by the absence of Wenzel. TCU shot just 38.2 percent from the floor and 19.2 percent from beyond the arc. It was TCU’s second time shooting below 20 percent from three-point range in its last five contests.

The Horned Frogs will take on the 5-6 Montana State Bobcats on Sunday, December 22 at home before beginning Big 12 play with a bout against the Arizona Wildcats on December 30.