Men’s Basketball: Wolverines pull away late from Horned Frogs in back-and-forth affair

TCU remained close throughout the night, but came up short near the end.

The TCU Horned Frogs suffered their first defeat of the season on Friday night against the Michigan Wolverines. Despite the 12-point margin of victory, the game was closer than the final score would reflect. Michigan came out hot, scoring the first seven points of the game. TCU would respond, equaling the Wolverines’ total in the next two minutes of action. The duo of Tazarien White and Brendan Wenzel foreshadowed their impressive performances early, scoring 19 of TCU’s first 23 points. Wenzel drilled three of his five three-pointers in the first half, while White made a living attacking the rim.

After a tight-knit first half, the Frogs trailed the Wolverines by three points, 34-31. TCU managed a meager 31 points despite forcing 16 Michigan turnovers through 20 minutes of action. The Horned Frogs failed to convert off Wolverines’ giveaways and lacked scorers sans Wenzel and White. Similar to the beginning of the first half, TCU started slowly in the second, scoring just five points in three and a half minutes. The Horned Frogs first trailed by double-digits with a tick under 14 minutes to go before Vasean Allette went on a mini-run of his own. Allette threw down a monstrous dunk, then recorded a steal leading a tough and-one bucket. Another Wenzel three-ball cut the Wolverines lead to five with 11 minutes left. With 10 and a half minutes to go, senior guard Frankie Collins threw down an earth-shattering jam against his former team.

Collins’ highlight-worthy slam built momentum, but it wasn’t enough. Michigan scored 16 points to TCU’s six over the last six and a half minutes of action. The only made bucket in this timeframe was a White lay-up—the rest were free throws. TCU connected on only one of seven field goals during the Wolverines’ 16-6 run. Michigan ultimately knocked off TCU 76-64 to secure its second win of the season.

Michigan’s frontcourt dominated in the absence of Ernest Udeh Jr. Freshman David Punch started in Udeh’s place, contributing six points and seven boards. On the opposing side, 7-foot Yale transfer Danny Wolf scored 14 points, hauled in 14 rebounds, and notched two rejections. His counterpart, FAU transfer Vladislav Goldin, chipped in eight points and brought down eight rebounds. The Wolverines backcourt excelled against the Horned Frogs, combining for 30 points, eight rebounds, and four dimes. Tre Donaldson and Nimari Burnett were lights out from the field, connecting on 11-of-18 field goal attempts.

The Horned Frogs suffered through a horrendous shooting night. TCU made just 22-of-64 field goal attempts and 5-of-19 three-pointers. Wenzel was the only Horned Frog to knockdown a triple. The Horned Frogs forced 21 Michigan turnovers which yielded 21 points in TCU’s favor. However, the Wolverines’ shotmaking combined with the Frogs’ lack thereof doomed TCU.