Another day, another college basketball legend.The Horned Frogs (1-3) face Bob Knight’s Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-2) on Wednesday, continuing TCU’s recent string of stiff competition led by historic coaches. Knight is the NCAA’s second all-time wins leader with 858. The Frogs lost to Drake, led by John Davis (573 career wins), and Oklahoma State, led by Eddie Sutton (781 career wins), over the Thanksgiving weekend and will face Jim Boeheim (703 career wins) and the Syracuse Orange on Saturday.
“We’re moving through the all-time list,” TCU head coach Neil Dougherty said. “With Eddie Sutton and Dr. Tom Davis at the Las Vegas tournament, and then Bob Knight and Jim Boeheim this week, we’re playing against some of the best coaches in the game.”
Both of the Red Raiders’ losses this season have been to two of last season’s powerhouses, No. 19 Syracuse and No. 23 Wake Forest, and three of Tech’s four wins have come against teams with winning records.
Since Knight went to Tech, Dougherty is 1-3 against the Raiders; the one win came last year at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, when the Frogs handled Tech 83-68, but the Frogs have lost the last two meetings in Lubbock.
Tech has a very young team – 11 underclassmen, four juniors and no seniors – but has 10 players on the roster who play double-digit minutes each game. Guards Martin Zeno and Jarrius Jackson have stepped up to the lead the Raiders and are each averaging more than 17 points a game.
Senior guard Nile Murry said the TCU coaching staff has worked diligently to prepare the Frogs for a team as well coached as Knight’s Raiders.
“The coaches have prepared us pretty well and worked with us a lot,” Murry said. “We just have to stick to our defensive principles and rebound.”
Dougherty said the team is still fighting injuries lingering from the tournament, but no players, other than senior forward Chudi Chinweze, who has been out with a knee injury since last season, will miss tonight’s game. Chinweze does not have a timetable for return.
Senior forward Judson Stubbs, who has helped fill Chinweze’s absence this season with averages of 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds a game, said their injured forward is missed on and off the court.
“With Chudi being out, it puts more pressure on all of us to carry the team,” Stubbs said. “But we have to keep our intensity up and execute.
