TCU Men's Basketball: SoCal Challenge Recap

TCU men's hoop squad leaves the SoCal Challenge 1-1 after facing some tough teams.

@TCU Basketball- Photo of Emmanuel Miller

TCU Men’s Basketball just finished hooping in San Juan Capistrano, California. They left this nationally televised showcase 1-1; losing to a tough Santa Clara team and coming away with a tough victory over Pepperdine.

The first game was against Santa Clara, and the Horned Frogs struggled to stop Santa Clara that night from scoring. TCU dropped its first game of the season in the SoCal Challenge, 85-66.

The Broncos shot 69 percent (11-of-16) from 3-point range and shot 61 percent from the floor. The Horned Frogs were held to 41 percent shooting from the field.

TCU had another team leading scorer this night beside Mike Miles. Maxwell Evans led the Horned Frogs with a season-high 15 points, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Mike Miles and Micah Peavy each added 10 points. Miles also dished out a career-high seven assists.

After TCU took a 1-0 lead, the first half belonged to Santa Clara. Having trailed by 11 midway through the first half, the Horned Frogs’ JaKobe Coles brought TCU to within four points after a 3-pointer with 2:27 to play in the half. The Broncos then responded with 10 unanswered points to end the half and led 43-29.

Santa Clara continued its scoring streak to 24 to start the second half and led by as many as 28 with 15:36 to play. The Frogs then went on a 14-3 run to cut the deficit to 15 points with just over nine minutes remaining, but after Broncos was just like a stampede and trampled over the Horned Frogs to a victory.

This was a tough game defensively for the Horned Frogs, but it was good experience for them moving forward because now they can see what they truly need to improve to mark their territory defensively, especially going into conference play later on. 

TCU bounced back two days later as they faced Pepperdine. TCU defeat Pepperdine, 73-64, Wednesday in the SoCal Challenge. Emanuel Miller finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Six of his 10 boards were on the offensive end for TCU, which outrebounded Pepperdine 38-22. Miles scored a team-high 16 points. Chuck O’Bannon didn’t hit a three against Santa Clara which was unusual, but he bounced back. He rounded out the double-digit scorers with a season-high 12 points and was 2-5 from the 3.

TCU trailed most of the first half but took advantage of a span of nearly five minutes, where Pepperdine was held without a basket. The Horned Frogs finished the half on a 21-7 run and led 32-27 at the break.

In the second half, TCU never led by less than seven points, until late in the game. A Pepperdine free throw made it a three-point game with 8:30 to play. TCU was looking like themselves as there Key buckets by Damion Baugh, Coles, Miles and Miller down the stretch helped secure the win. Mike Miles was named to the Surf Division All-Tournament team SoCal Challenge. It was a huge milestone for Head Coach Jamie Dixon as it was his 100th victory as TCU Head Coach. Out of the 22 head coaches to lead the Horned Frogs, he’s the third fastest to reach 100 wins at TCU.

TCU returns home at Fort Dixon in Schollmaier Arena to face Austin Peay on Monday at 7 p.m. The game will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

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