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TCU men’s basketball bounced back from its lackluster showing at UCF with a crucial 60-54 win over West Virginia on Saturday at Schollmaier Arena.
The matchup had the feel of a first-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament with both teams trying to make late runs to sneak into March Madness.
After trailing by six, the Horned Frogs (17-10, 7-7) battled back and cut the deficit to 52-50 with 4 minutes, 15 seconds remaining on a layup from Brock Harding. Harding continued to put pressure on the West Virginia (16-11, 7-7) as he tied the game with another basket and then found a cutting David Punch for a bucket that put TCU ahead 54-52 with 2:26 remaining.
Punch scored another clutch basket when he battled through contact and knocked down a runner that increased the lead to 56-52 with 1:36 to go. The Horned Frogs forced a turnover and had a chance to potentially ice the game, but Jayden Pierre’s turnaround jumper fell short.
That allowed the Mountaineers to cut it to 56-54 with 25.4 seconds remaining. But Harding kept up his heroics. He made two free throws with 17 seconds left that increased the lead to 58-54.
TCU forced a turnover on the Mountaineers’ next possession, and Pierre iced the game with 7 seconds remaining with a pair of free throws.
The Horned Frogs closed the game on a 12-2 run.
TCU is set to host Arizona State at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Here are three more takeaways from Saturday’s game:
Putting the win in perspective
Both teams entered Saturday firmly on the bubble with the Horned Frogs being the first team out of the tournament according to ESPN, and the Mountaineers being among the next four out. It wouldn’t be an overexaggeration to consider this an elimination game of sorts.
But with the win, TCU may have inched closer to locking up an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament with its fourth win in the last five games. During this pivotal stretch TCU collected Quad 1 wins over Iowa State and Oklahoma State and now also own a quality Quad 2 win over the Mountaineers, who now likely need to make a run in the Big 12 Tournament to make the field of 68.
As clutch as the victory was, there’s still more to be done for TCU. The biggest key for the Horned Frogs will be avoiding a bad loss in their next two games vs. Arizona State and at Kansas State. The penultimate matchup at Texas Tech on March 3 could also be the game where the Horned Frogs lock up a bid if they can pull off the upset.
Edmonds continues to excel
Over the last month TCU center Xavier Edmonds has been one of the most productive big men in the Big 12 and that continued against West Virginia. Edmonds got off to a slow start, like the rest of TCU’s offense in the first half, as he missed numerous free throws and had just one field goal in the first 15 minutes of the game.
But Edmonds started to find his groove thanks to his connection with Brock Harding in the pick-and-roll. On one sequence Harding made a perfect bounce pass to a cutting Edmonds, who dunked over a West Virginia defender. The two connected on another pick-and-roll play a few possessions later as Edmonds put TCU ahead 30-23 with a layup.
Edmonds continued to make key plays in the second half, including one sequence where he knocked down a 3-pointer and then blocked a shot on the next defensive possessions. Edmonds finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, recording his eighth double-double in the last nine games.
A model teammate
The first eight minutes were a tough watch as TCU fell behind West Virginia due to countless unforced errors. TCU had seven turnovers during that stretch including missed alley-oops and lackadaisical passing that the Mountaineers had no problem intercepting. TCU also had a near six-minute stretch where it went scoreless, but despite the early struggles TCU led 30-25 at halftime thanks to Liutauras Lelevicius.
Lelevicius scored all of his 14 points in the first half off the bench and completely changed the complexion of the game with his 3-point shooting. With the Horned Frogs trailing 12-6, Lelevicius would score 11 of the next 13 points for the Horned Frogs as they cut West Virginia’s lead to 21-19.
Lelevicius knocked down two 3s during that decisive stretch, but there was still more to come. Lelevicius gave TCU its first lead since the 19:41 mark as he nailed his third 3 to put TCU ahead 23-21. TCU closed the half on a 14-4 run thanks to Lelevicius, who was recently taken out of the starting lineup on Feb. 10 against Iowa State.
It would’ve been easy for Lelevicius to sulk after losing his starting position, but Lelevicius stayed engaged and delivered his best performance since he scored 23 against Kansas on Jan. 6.
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Steven Johnson
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