Winning on the road in the Big 12 might be the hardest thing to do in the country. TCU was reminded of that during its dramatic 83-82 win over Texas Tech on Saturday.
The Horned Frogs held a 12-point lead with less than eight minutes remaining, only for the Red Raiders to storm back to make it a two-point game, 77-75, with 3:12 left in the contest. Texas Tech continued the comeback and retook the lead as TCU gave up a wide open 3-pointer to Jaylon Tyson.
Despite leading most of the day, the Horned Frogs found themselves down 80-79 with 1:41 left. Mike Miles Jr. gave TCU the lead back by throwing down a baseline dunk off a nice pass from Damion Baugh.
After getting a stop, TCU had a chance to go up three or four points, but a Miles pass was picked off by De’Vion Harmon. A few seconds later, Harmon put Texas Tech ahead 82-81 with 10 seconds remaining. After being fouled, JaKobe Coles knocked down the game-winning free throws with less than four seconds remaining to lift TCU to a win.
The victory was massive in numerous ways. It was the program’s first win in Lubbock since 2015 and snapped a five-game losing streak to Quad 1 opponents.
Miles led TCU with 24 points, while Coles added 15.
Life without Lampkin
It was all hands on deck to replace Eddie Lampkin Jr., the team’s leading rebounder. The Horned Frogs were without Souleymane Doumbia as well, due to concussion protocol. That mean the brunt of the frontcourt responsibility would be on Coles, Xavier Cork and Miller.
All three stepped up in a major way. Let’s start with Miller, who had his first double-double since the Dec. 28 blowout win over Central Arkansas. After a hot first half, the Red Raiders turned the defensive intensity up on Miller to slow him. Cork also dealt with foul trouble as he picked up his fourth with over 12 minutes remaining in the second half.
Coles filled in admirably, converting a three-point play to give TCU a 71-62 lead with 8:19 remaining. On the next trip down, Coles drained a corner 3-pointer to make it 74-62. On the flip side, TCU struggled trying to match up with Red Raiders center Fardaws Aimaq. Aimaq had 12 points in the second half and was a catalyst in the Red Raiders battling back from a 12-point deficit.
In the end, TCU was able to hold its own in the paint as the Horned Frogs outscored Texas Tech 52-44 in points. Miller finished with 14 points and a season-high 12 rebounds, while Cork added 10 points.
Strong start
TCU fell behind 5-0 and missed its first six 3-pointers early. But when Texas Tech took a 15-9 advantage about halfway through the first half, the Horned Frogs began to find their offense. The Horned Frogs used a 9-2 run to take their first lead of the game as Miller scored a bucket inside to make it 18-17.
Miller and Miles would then take the half over as TCU began to grow its lead. After Tech tied it at 18, Miles converted a four-point play to put his team back in front. After a Red Raiders layup inside, it was Miller’s turn to hit a 3 followed by two back-to-back makes for Miles. In a span of roughly five minutes, Miles and Miller changed the tone of the game as TCU went from down six to up 29-20 with less than eight minutes remaining until halftime.
The Red Raiders would battle back to cut it to 33-31 with 3:33 left in the half, only for Miles and Miller to rip off another run. The duo scored eight of TCU’s final 11 points, including a dazzling put-back dunk from Miller and a buzzer-beater layup by Miles as TCU held a comfortable 44-35 lead at halftime. Miles and Miller combined for 26 points in the first half.
