After taking the play-in game from the New Mexico Lobos on Tuesday night, the men’s basketball team was clinging to a possible NCAA Tournament berth. The Horned Frogs season was ended Tuesday afternoon, following a 77-64 loss to the No. 23 BYU Cougars.Odds were against TCU, but the team had won three of the last four games – including an upset over the then No. 14 Air Force Falcons on Feb. 24 – before being disparaged by the Cougars.

The Horned Frogs more than doubled the win total from the 2005-2006 season, finishing with a 13-17 overall record, despite a crippling 11-game losing streak during conference play.

Trent Plaisted, the mountainous center from BYU had 22 points and helped carry the Cougars through the game. Plaisted’s 9 rebounds and strong play beneath the rim were hard for TCU to counter, head coach Neil Dougherty said.

“I felt that if we could have rebounded the ball better that we may have had a lot better chance to come out with a win today,” Dougherty said, “But they were just too good on the backboards for us.”

Kevin Langford and Femi Ibikunle combined for 36 points, but even with double digit performances from both forwards, the Horned Frogs never once had a lead.

BYU guard Lee Cummard continued to be problematic for TCU and made 7 rebounds, while bottling up the Horned Frogs’ guard, Brent Hackett.

“Cummard has probably become one of my favorite players that I shouldn’t like a whole lot,” Dougherty said. “He just does an awful lot of things for their basketball team. He rebounds it. He handles it. He can shoot it. Then he just guards whoever they tell him to guard, regardless of size, athleticism, position, he can do it.”

There is hope for the Horned Frogs in the 2007-2008 campaign, as all but three players will return to the floor for another season.