Blood, Sweat, Tears. TCU Men's Basketball went down swinging in the Second Round of March Madness

The Horned Frogs were defeated by the No. 1 seed Arizona Wildcats in overtime.

© Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

TCU Men's basketball went down swinging in a toe-to-toe fight with the high- ranked Arizona Wildcats.  Emanuel Miller left all the blood on the dance floor. All the Horned Frogs left the sweat on the court, and they shed tears as a brotherhood. TCU may have lost this battle, but they lost with honor, pride, and respect. They lost letting the country know they are the people’s champion. 

Chuck O’Bannon Jr. led three TCU players who scored 20 or more points, but No. 1 seed Arizona defeated No. 9 seed TCU in overtime, 85-80, Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Viejas Arena.

O’Bannon had a career-high 23 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers. Eddie Lampkin Jr. recorded his fifth double-double of the season with a career-high 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Mike Miles Jr. scored 20 points with the help of a 9-of-9 effort from the free throw line.

TCU (21-13) stormed out to an 8-0 lead before Arizona (33-3) began a comeback and used an 18-7 run to take its first lead of the game, 18-17, with 11:32 to play in the half. The Wildcats led by five points on three occasions and led by three at halftime, 39-36.

Arizona led by as many as nine points in the second half, 67-58, with 7:52 to play in regulation. TCU went on a 15-3 run to lead by three, 73-70, with 1:17 to play. The Frogs led 75-72 with 36 seconds to play. Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin made a 3-pointer with 12.6 to play to tie the game at 75. He had a game-high 30 points.

The last possession of regulation, Miles was about to cross half court, and the refs did nothing but kept their whistles in their hands. Miles was bumped by the Wildcats’ Dalen Terry near mid-court with the game tied and the final seconds ticking down. Terry bumped Miles who was attempting to dribble on TCU’s side of the court for a last-second shot attempt. Instead, he fell to the floor, Terry picked up the loose ball, and nearly completed a game-winning dunk before time expired. It was costly because the no-call ruined what TCU had going. TCU was in the double bonus, and if you call the foul, Miles has a chance to ice the game.

TCU led by one, 77-76, with 3:19 to play in overtime following a layup by Miller. Mathurin put U of A up by four with 2:09 to play. TCU cut it to one on a 3-point play by Miles, 81-80, with 1:44 to play. Mathurin put U of A up three, 83-80, with 1:11 to play. On the next possession, O’Bannon missed a 3-pointer with 44 seconds to play. U of A’s Christian Koloko scored his 28th point on the next possession to put the game out of reach.

Eddie Lampkin Jr. and Mike Miles Jr. console each other after TCU was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament / Barry Lewis

TCU moved to 6-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. TCU moved to 2-1 all-time against Arizona. TCU outrebounded Arizona, 48-44. The Frogs moved to 19-8 this season and 100-34 under Dixon when outrebounding their opponent. TCU was outrebounded just six times this season. TCU moved to 5-3 this season and 22-11 under Dixon in neutral site games. Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin scored a game-high 30 points, the most by a TCU opponent since Austin Reaves of Oklahoma scored 32 on Dec. 6, 2020. 

This season showed what TCU basketball is all about. The nation better be ready for TCU to take the country by storm next year.

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