Big 12 Tournament: O'Bannon, Miles Send TCU To Semis

TCU will play Texas in the semifinals at 8:30pm on Friday. It's the third time the Horned Frogs have made the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

TCU guard Chuck O’Bannon picked an ideal night for a breakout game.

O’Bannon’s 22 points, one point shy of his career-high which came in last year’s NCAA tournament, helped TCU (21-11 overall) knock out Kansas State (23-9) 80-67 in the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Men’s Big 12 Basketball Championship.

“He’s, as you said, Mr. post-season,” TCU head coach Jamie Dixon said. “It’s his time like it’s our time, and we’re ready.”

“Every guy gave us good minutes and that’s hard to do against a really good team.”

Guard Mike Miles Jr. also scored 22 points and dished out four assists.

Kansas State guard Desi Sills and forward Keyontae Johnson each scored 14 points in the loss. Sills’ four blocks gave TCU headaches in the first half and contributed to some scoring woes.

The Horned Frogs struggled finding an offensive rhythm early, shooting 2-of-9 (22%) from the field. TCU trailed 11-5 heading into the under 16-minute media timeout because O’Bannon had made both his shots.

That gave the Horned Frogs a push in the right direction.

“We all came out [of the timeout] and knew what we had to do,” Miles said. “Play defense. And when you make shots, everything’s better. Chuck started making shots, I started making shots and it gave us energy on the defensive end to get the win.”

An 11-2 run tied the game at 13 with 12:53 left in the first half. Another 9-2 spurt put TCU up 37-29 before Kansas State closed the gap to 37-32 at halftime.

The Wildcats stayed close until the Horned Frogs converted a four-point play with 15:43 left in the game. It all started when TCU forward JaKobe Coles made a lay-up while being bear-hugged by Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell. The foul was upgraded to a flagrant one. Coles converted two free throws and the Horned Frogs maintained possession.

A 50-42 advantage ballooned to 66-51 with under 10 minutes to go as Miles and O’Bannon started draining three-pointers. Both converted a season-high 4-of-7 from behind the arc.

TCU shot 40% (27-of-67) from the floor for the game, including 11-of-25 from three-point range. The 17 assists on 27 makes and crisp ball movement made hitting those shots much easier.

“The passing, the unselfishness, it was evident throughout the game,” Dixon said. “We didn’t take any bad shots really all game long. I’ll have to struggle to come up with one or two.”

The Horned Frogs also made 15-of-21 free throws.

On defense, TCU limited Kansas State to 23% shooting (7-of-30) from three and forced 20 turnovers which turned into 20 points. Those points off turnovers proved extremely valuable as the nation’s top fast-break offense put up just seven points.

The Horned Frogs lost the overall rebounding battle, 41-34, but secured 14 offensive rebounds. O’Bannon grabbed three of those offensive boards and tied with forward Xavier Cork for a team-high seven total rebounds.

O'Bannon's team-leading performance has been brewing for awhile. Inconsistent shooting made trusting himself, the coaching staff, and teammates even more important in getting to this outcome.

“All season I was struggling to knock down shots,” O’Bannon said. “But I stayed confident in me, coach stayed confident in me, and teammates stayed confident in me. I just knew if I stayed consistent, it would work for me in the long run.”

His persistence and patience resulted in a pretty good reward – moving one step closer to a Big 12 Tournament title.

TCU will face No. 2-seed Texas in the semifinals on Friday at 8:30pm. The game will be televised on ESPN. 

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