NCAA Basketball: TCU’s struggles, Maui breakdown among biggest takeaways
By Joey Loose
4. The initial struggle at TCU
In 2016, TCU was still relatively new to the Big 12 but basketball was not looking great for the Horned Frogs. They had finished just 8-64 in conference play in their first four seasons. Fortunately, the Horned Frogs nailed their next coaching hire, bringing alum Jamie Dixon over from Pittsburgh to lead this program. What’s followed has been a slew of successful seasons, including a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and four 20+ win seasons.
Last year was especially fortuitous for the Horned Frogs, who smoked Seton Hall in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before pushing top-seed Arizona to the limit in the second round, eventually dropping the game in overtime. What became even more impactful was that TCU returned nearly all of the players from that Tourney run, including their entire starting five, highlighted by Mike Miles Jr.
Unfortunately, they have simply failed to live up to those early expectations this year. The Horned Frogs have played very poorly to open the season and it hasn’t exactly come against fierce competition. They dug a 20-point hole on opening night against Arkansas Pine Bluff before eventually avoiding disaster, winning by a single point. They struggled with a terrible Lamar squad a few days later before actually losing at home to Northwestern State just over a week ago. They flirted with disaster three times and paid the price on the third occasion.
The long-range shooting (and offense in general) has been absent, while the defense hasn’t exactly been playing at a top level. Doing this against these types of opponents is just a horrible look for TCU. The Horned Frogs did bounce back in a convincing win over Louisiana Monroe, but the early damage is already done.
This is not a challenging nonconference schedule and you have to wonder how the Horned Frogs will fair in Big 12 play if they can’t get these issues figured out. Fortunately, with Miles, Emanuel Miller, and a few other significant pieces, they at least have the talent to compete if they can start playing cohesive offense.