Men’s Basketball: TCU unable to overcome sluggish offense in first home loss of the season

The Horned Frogs shot 37.5 percent from the floor and 47.6 from the free throw line.

The TCU Horned Frogs were once again overly reliant on its backcourt to produce points. Vasean Allette and Noah Reynolds combined to score 31 of TCU’s 65 points in the Horned Frogs’ first home loss of the season. TCU was defeated 73-65 by the Utah Utes to fall to 2-3 in conference play and 9-7 overall.

The Horned Frogs began slowly, scoring only two points in the first four-and-a-half minutes of action. Despite the slow start offensively, the Horned Frogs held their own on defense, holding Utah to only five points after five minutes of play. The scoring between the two squads heated up near the 13-minute mark. A pair of Utah dunks and TCU triples led both teams past double-digits.

TCU trailed by as many as nine points in the first half before going on an 8-2 run to end the first stanza. Allette led all Horned Frogs through the first 20 minutes of action, scoring 13 of his 19 points in the first half. TCU began the second half just like the first—failing to see the ball go through the hoop for several minutes. Ernest Udeh Jr. scored the first bucket of the second half off an assist from Reynolds.

Utah’s lead ballooned to 14 points by the 14-minute mark. Reynolds would knockdown another three-pointer to cut the Utes’ lead to 11 a few seconds later. The Horned Frogs continued to cling on, even narrowing the Utes’ lead to six points after Micah Robinson drilled two free throws. However, TCU was unable to narrow the deficit any lower, allowing the Utes to convert on numerous easy buckets as the game came to a close. Reynolds began to take over near the end, but could not replicate the same late-game heroics as he did against Kansas State and BYU.

The Utes came out on top despite losing the turnover battle. Utah shot 49.0 percent from the field compared to a 37.5 percent mark from the Horned Frogs. While Utah wasn’t impressive from the free-throw line, the Utes still bested the Horned Frogs’ 47.6 percent conversion rate, shooting 65.5 percent, and connecting on 19-of-29 free-throw attempts. Aside from Allette and Reynolds, Brenden Wenzel and Micah Robinson reached double-digits, scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively. The wing duo combined for three three-pointers and seven free throws. After starting the first 14 games of the season, Trazarien White came off the bench again to score only two points on 1-of-2 shooting.

Following the first home loss of the season, TCU will travel an hour south to take on the 25th-ranked Baylor Bears in Waco on Sunday, January 19 at 4:00 p.m. CT.