TCU posted its lowest scoring total in 29 years, but came away with a 44-39 victory over Prairie View A&M. In 1983, the Frogs beat East Texas State 35-26.
During Sunday’s game, the Frogs (3-1 overall) shot 30.7 percent from the field on 13-of-43 shooting and held Prairie View A&M (2-3) to 13-of-46 shooting. The Panthers opened the game hitting four of its first five shots compared to 0-of-6 shooting for the Frogs.
“To a lot of people the game was ugly, but, to me, that’s how we’re going to have to play to be successful moving forward,” head coach Trent Johnson said.
Prairie View A&M guard Jourdan DeMuynck led all scorers with 17 points and guard Jarvis Ray had 13 for TCU. DeMuynck and TCU guard Garlon Green both grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. The Panthers outrebounded TCU 39-34.
Johnson said the rebounding has to be done by committee and the Frogs can’t let their offensive performance determine how they play.
“We gotta be a team that’s rebounding and defending,” Johnson said. “Taking care of the ball is going to dictate how we play. That’s really hard at any level.”
TCU trailed 20-17 at halftime after falling behind 14-0 in the first half. Prairie View A&M extended its lead to 30-21 with 14 minutes left in the second half.
Ray said the Frogs were not aggressive in the first half and moving from a zone defense to man-to-man helped them get turnovers and rebounds.
The Frogs cut the lead to 30-28 and tied the game at 32 on a pair of free throws by guard Clyde Smith with 8:32 left. Guard Kyan Anderson’s 3-pointer gave TCU its first lead of the second half.
Jules Montgomery answered with a layup to cut the lead back to one. A Chapman Demondre free throw tied the game at 35, but Anderson hit a jumper to put TCU back up 37-35.
Devonta Abron extended the lead to 39-35 and hit a free throw a few plays later to make it a five point game with 2:20 left. The Frogs forced an air ball on the Panthers’ next possession, but the
Frogs were unable to take advantage of the turnover.
Chapman was fouled on a dunk attempt, but missed both free throws. Abron grabbed the rebound and was able to get a layup to give the Frogs a 42-35 lead with 34.4 seconds left.
The Panthers failed to make another set of free throws and fouled Anderson to stop the clock at 22.5. Anderson missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving the Panthers the ball back.
DeMuynck drew a foul to get to the free throw line and cut the lead to 42-37. The Panthers fouled Green who hit both free throws. DeMuynck hit a bucket with eight seconds left to cut the lead to 44-39. The Panthers got the ball back and turned it over to end the game.
Abron led the Frogs with nine points in the second half and six rebounds. He finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
“I just didn’t want to give up on plays,” Abron said. “Like coach say, take no plays off. Play like it’s your last game and play like it’s your minute out there.”
Johnson said this TCU team is not going to put up 80 points a night and blow opponents out at home.
“It’s no disrespect to our talent level and things of that nature,” Johnson said. “It is what it is. We’re going to have to play the game the right way and our margin for error is real slim.”
The Frogs will finish their five game homestand against Navy on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
