TCU’s men’s basketball team has no time to let Saturday’s controversial loss to No.3 Kansas linger as it welcomes two more top-10 opponents to Fort Worth this week.
The Horned Frogs will be back in action on Wednesday and Saturday, taking on No.9 Oklahoma and No.2 Houston as the Big 12 slate continues at home, where they will hope to build an advantage.
“We’ve got to have a great home court,” head coach Jamie Dixon told the media on Tuesday. “I know we’re sold out, but we have to create the atmosphere that these other teams do all the time, and that’s what I’ve been trying to express to our students. Obviously, we run into the longest [winter] break in college in the country, but we’ve got to get the students there. … Staff and faculty are generally back here starting to work. I think it’s important. Where we’ve come from, the interest we created is there.”
TCU has defended its home court will under Dixon, holding a 97-39 record at Schollmaier Arena over the last eight seasons. The Horned Frogs are 7-0 at home this season, but these will be the most significant and challenging home games so far this season.
Dixon felt the TCU showed some improvements in its halfcourt offense against Kansas but needed to be more locked in with some of the things it usually does well.
“I think our halfcourt offense, our numbers were tremendous,” he explained. “What we did, you should win the game in the halfcourt. What we weren’t as good in, and still we were elite in other people’s minds or comparisons, was we weren’t as efficient in transition. I know everybody said we got 14 [points], and that’s a lot there, but we didn’t finish in a couple of situations. We didn’t make free throws on a couple of them, and could have had some and-ones when we didn’t, so that’s what we talked about, but the halfcourt offense and the execution — there was a reason why our numbers were better.”
Oklahoma finished last season in last place in the Big 12 but has brought in some transfers and worked its way to a top-10 ranking with a balanced lineup, and Dixon is not surprised by the progress the Sooners have made.
“That makes it par for the course in the Big 12,” he said. “Teams reload. We thought we reloaded well, but so did everybody else. It just speaks to the commitment of these schools.”
Houston is another team that has reloaded, adding leading scorer LJ Cryer via transfer from Baylor after losing five players off of last year’s team. Head coach Kelvin Sampson has built the Cougars into one of the country’s most consistent programs, appearing in the AP Top 25 rankings for 74 consecutive weeks.
Only Gonzaga has a longer streak.
Houston will be coming to town after its first loss of the season, giving TCU a crucial opportunity to establish itself in the Big 12 race.
TCU (11-3) hosts No.9 Oklahoma (13-1) at 8 p.m. CT at Schollmaier Arena on Wednesday and No.3 Houston (14-1) at 5 p.m. CT on Saturday.