TCU Men's Basketball: Upcoming Opponents- Week of Nov. 22 (SoCal Challenge)

The Horned Frogs look to walk away with two victories as they dunk it down and enjoy the beach at the SoCal Challenge.

@TCUBasketball twitter- Photo of Chuck O'Bannon

”It never rains in Southern California.” That’s song lyrics from the R&B group, Tony! Toni! Tone! But hopefully the Horned Frogs can make it rain from deep with a mirage of three pointers as they head to the SoCal challenge, and play their first opponent of the challenge which is Santa Clara. TCU is coming off a good team victory over Nicholls. TCU erased a 13-point second-half deficit to defeat Nicholls by 13, 63-50. The Frogs struggled early on in this game as they made simple mistakes on the offensive, but they made major adjustments to help them clutch a victory.

TCU plays Santa Clara in its first game of the SoCal Challenge on Monday at 9:30 p.m. CT in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. It will air on CBS Sports Network.

Coach Dixon and the Horned Frogs will attempt to start its season 4-0 for the third-straight season and the fifth time in the last six seasons. The Frogs are currently 3-0 for the sixth-straight season. So far, Mr. Mike Miles has been a tear in the Horned Frogs first three games. Miles has led the Frogs in scoring in all three games this season. He opened with a pair of 20-point outings, the first Frog with back-to-back 20-point games to open a season. Other key stats are Chuck O’Bannon has made a 3-pointer in nine-straight games dating back to last season and is fifth on the team in scoring at 6.3 per game as the Horned Frogs get ready to face the Santa Clara Broncos.

Santa Clara is 4-0 following an 87-57 win over Cal Poly on Friday. Among the Broncos four victories are an 88-72 win over Stanford and a 96-74 win over Nevada. Forward Josip Vrankic and guard Jalen Williams were named to the Preseason All-WCC Team. Williams leads the team in scoring at 19.8 points per game and Vrankic is second at 16.3 per game. Santa Clara leads the all-time series 1-0. The only meeting in the series came on Dec. 28, 1981 at the Cable Car Classic in San Francisco, Calif. SC won the game, 78-63. 

After this game, TCU has a day to enjoy the beach then TCU continues play at the SoCal Challenge with Pepperdine on Wednesday. Pepperdine is 2-3 on the year so far. They gear up to play Fresno state first at the SoCal Challenge, then they face the Horned Frogs. Pepperdine leading scores is Houston Mallette with 13.4 points per game and Jade Smith with 11.8 points per game. Their team as a whole right now averages 39.7% shooting from the field. There has been only one matchup previously between TCU and Pepperdine. That dates back Dec 27, 1945. Pepperdine won 57-45. Tune into the SoCal Challenge to watch some good basketball overall. 

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