.Samuel made all seven of his shots and had eight rebounds with five blocks, RJ Nembhard scored 16 points and Bane finished with eight points and 10 assists in TCU's second home victory over a ranked team. The Horned Frogs beat then-No. 18 Texas Tech in January.''I hope it gives some of the younger guys confidence that it can be done,'' said Bane, a senior. ''We went out there and got flat out embarrassed in West Virginia. To come back here and beat that team is huge for us. Hopefully we can build off this moving forward.'' West Virginia finished 2 of 17 from 3-point range, including an air ball on an open look for Sean McNeil with the Mountaineers down by three in overtime.McNeil also had a desperation heave from past half court bounce off the back of the rim when West Virginia managed to get off a shot after the call against Bane.The Mountaineers missed four straight free throws late before Oscar Tshiebwe made the second of two for a 55-all tie with 1:03 to go. Miles McBride couldn't finish off a possible three-point play, and Culver missed two free throws.Culver scored six points and Sherman had the last five on a 15-1 run that put West Virginia up 25-15 in the first half.TCU later answered with a 19-2 run that carried over halftime, turning a 31-21 deficit into a 40-33 lead when Nembhard hit a 3-pointer.BIG PICTUREWest Virginia: Tshiebwe, the freshman leading West Virginia in scoring, was held to just one point and has attempted just six shots, with one make, the past two games. The Big 12's second-leading rebounder wasn't as much of a factor inside either, finishing with five boards after six straight games with at least eight.''We sat him most of the first half because he just wouldn't get back to his man,'' Huggins said.TCU: The slide toward the bottom of the standings has been steady since the Horned Frogs started 3-0 in the Big 12 after getting voted last by league coaches in a preseason poll. But this is quite a boost coming off seven losses in eight games.ARGENTINE'S CONCUSSIONThe Horned Frogs scored the final eight points of the first half, starting with a 3-pointer from guard Francisco Farabello. The only points for the freshman from Argentina came moments before he ended up on the floor holding his head following a scramble for a loose ball. Farabello had to be helped to the locker room and was ruled out with a concussion.KNOCKING DOWN THE FREEBIESSamuel, a 34% shooter on free throws coming into the game, was 5 of 6 from the line. The two in overtime put the Horned Frogs up six with 1:19 remaining.''Obviously Kevin was terrific, so happy for him, how hard he's worked on his free throws,'' coach Jamie Dixon said. ''And to go and knock those down, to be 5 of 6 at the end of the day is a great thing.'' UP NEXTWest Virginia: At Texas on Monday.TCU: At Iowa State on Tuesday.---For more college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/-Top25)
Feb 21, 2020West Virginia will bring plenty of defensive chops to the court on Saturday when it travels to play reeling TCU in a Big 12 dustup in Fort Worth, Texas.The question remains if the No. 17 Mountaineers will also bring some real offense, and the kind of all-around production that it needs to win.The Mountaineers did just about everything right, at least for a half, on Tuesday in a 65-47 win at home over Oklahoma State that snapped a three-game losing streak. Sean McNeil and Miles McBride scored 11 points apiece to lead West Virginia in the win while interior defense and a balanced attack made all the difference.West Virginia turned things around after a ragged first half via a 20-4 run over the first 12 minutes of the second half. The Mountaineers (19-7, 7-6 Big 12) ran away with the game down the stretch, leading by as many as 18 points.The Cowboys scored just 14 points and shot just 16.7 percent (5 of 30) in the second half, missing eight of their last nine field goals."The biggest thing is we kept them in front of us," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins told reporters after the game. "I don't care who you are if you keep people in front of you it's hard to score. I'm just trying to win, man. We had a miserable year last year and I promised the state of West Virginia that we wouldn't do that again."It gives us a little better, happier attitude going to Fort Worth and Austin." West Virginia is just 1-5 on the road in conference play, but the games Saturday against TCU and Monday at Texas gives the Mountaineers a real chance to improve that mark.TCU heads home after dropping a 70-56 decision to Texas on Wednesday -- the Horned Frogs' seventh loss in eight games. TCU (14-12, 5-8) led by as many as seven points in the first half and by two at the break, but lost the lead early in the second half and never regained its stride."I just think we have to play better than that, we have to be a better team than that," TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. "And that falls on me. Just when we think we are getting better offensively we have a game like this. We have had a number of games like this that just get away from us." Desmond Bane led the Horned Frogs with 13 points, all of which came in the first half. Jaire Grayer and Kevin Samuel added 11 points apiece for TCU, Samuel adding a game-high 12 rebounds in defeat.The Longhorns' defense was the difference, especially after halftime. TCU shot just 24.1 percent (7 of 29) in the second half. The Horned Frogs missed all 10 of their shots from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes."We've made some adjustments but we didn't progress in this game," Dixon said. "We are playing hard but just not well enough to win on the road. When things go wrong we just can't seem to find our way. Defensively we are not good enough, but we will keep striving, keep coaching, keep playing." The Mountaineers lambasted TCU 81-49 at home in the teams' first meeting this season, Jan. 14 in Morgantown.--Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
West Virginia
TCU
Pick Center
NCAAB
FINAL (2/22/2020)
ProfessorsPicks
