In a fight for DFW college basketball supremacy, the No.24-ranked TCU men’s basketball team defeated the SMU men’s basketball team 83-75 on Saturday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
The Horned Frogs led for most of the game and finished with five players scoring in double digits. TCU’s leading scorer was guard Mike Miles Jr., who scored 18 in a return from injury and has scored in double digits in all six of the games he has played this season. Eddie Lampkin, Micah Peavy, Emanuel Miller and Chuck O’Bannon all had more than 10 points on Saturday for TCU as well.
SMU guard Zach Nutall led all scorers with 20 points, and his backcourt mate Zhuric Phelps added 19.
TCU led by as many as 18 in the second half before the Mustangs went on a run to cut the deficit down to six with 18 seconds remaining, but it proved to be too little, too late.
The Frogs also had the advantage on the three-point line, making 40% of their attempts against just 14.3% for SMU.
Although his team came away with a win, TCU’s head coach Jamie Dixon was not happy with the effort to close the game, especially when it came to rebounding. He told reporters, “We’re not getting enough offensive rebounds. We’re not getting it done on the defensive glass to the level we want to. That’s something we’re emphasizing, but we’re still not improving.”
First-year SMU head coach Rob Lanier challenged his team to be tougher going into this game and acknowledged that his team had made progress.
“We fought for a lot longer tonight,” he said during a postgame radio interview. “I think last time we talked, we talked about the first half [against Arizona State], and how do you extend that? And how do you build on that? And I think we did that tonight.”
The win helped TCU improve to 67-11 in games during November and December under current head coach Jamie Dixon and 3-1 in games played at Dickies Arena. SMU still leads the all-time series 106-88 but has lost the last three meetings.
The Horned Frogs are now 8-1 on the season, while the Mustangs drop to 3-7.
The Horned Frogs will continue their season on December 18 against Mississippi Valley State and close their non-conference schedule with matchups at Utah and at home against Central Arkansas before beginning Big 12 play against Texas Tech on New Year’s Eve.
SMU plays Iona on December 22 and will host Tulsa in its American Athletic Conference opener on January 1, 2023.
