TCU Men's Basketball: Horned Frogs Lose Defensive Clash to Kansas

It was a packed Schollmaier Arena Monday night as fans were excited for an opportunity to knock off the third ranked team in the country. It was a white out theme and students were lining up two hours before tip-off. Unfortunately, TCU (18-10, 7-8) was unable to pull through falling to the Kansas Jayhawks (23-5, 11-4) 63-58.

It was a struggle for both teams offensively in the early going. The only player that had a consistent shot was Kansas guard Gradey Dick. He was on fire scoring nine of the first 12 points for the Jayhawks. Dick finished with 19 points and six rebounds. He got great looks all night forcing TCU defenders to overcommit and opening up opportunities for Kansas to score.

TCU didn't score until 15:27 in the first half. Mike Miles led all TCU scorers with 13 points but shot just 4/14 from the field. The backcourt of Miles and Damion Baugh shot a combined 8/30. Jakobe Coles was a nice spark off the bench contributing 12 points.

The Horned Frogs never took the lead in the second half but they made it close the entire way through. Coles tied the game with a layup with 10 minutes to go but couldn't knock down the free throw to give the Frogs the lead.

A consistent problem that has hurt TCU all season is free throw shooting. The Frogs missed eight Monday night. They're ninth in the Big 12 in free throw percentage. Jamie Dixon said, "We earned every bit of that loss. Every home loss is a disappointment."

Despite Kansas only scoring three points in the last 4:45 of the game, TCU couldn't capitalize. Down three with a chance to tie, the Frogs couldn't get a shot off. It's a tough loss for a team that is trying to build some momentum. The Frogs have now lost five of their last six games. TCU will look to bounce back on Saturday in Lubbock against Texas Tech at 11 a.m.

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