The TCU men’s basketball team put together a furious second half comeback to erase a 15-point lead to grab their first conference win of the season, 54-52, against Boise State on Saturday.
With the win, TCU improves to 11-7 overall and 1-2 in conference. They avoided their first 0-3 conference start since their 2005-06 inaugural season in the Mountain West Conference.
“It was huge for us,” head coach Jim Christian said. “Again, we lost two in a row and we were down with about eight minutes to go in the game. And to get into the conference race, which we want to be, you’ve got to win at home.”
Freshman guard Kyan Anderson led the Frogs with 16 points while senior guard Hank Thorns chipped in 12 points. Senior forward Craig Williams finished with a team high of seven rebounds.
Boise State, 10-8 overall, 0-3 MWC, dropped their fourth straight game and remained winless on the road this season.
“I thought we played a lot of really good minutes and then, you know, they made their run on us,” Boise
State head coach Leon Rice said. “The wheels came off a little bit with us; we lost our poise. They made some big shots, some tough shots and some big rebounds too. It was a tough battle and we were there to steal one on the road and didn't get it done.”
Freshman guard Derrick Marks had 13 points and a game high of eight rebounds for the Broncos.
The Frogs jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead. Marks scored five points to keep Boise State in the game at 6-5 with 13:30 left in the first half. The Broncos tied the game at 8 on sophomore forward Thomas Bropleh’s 3-pointer. Anderson answered with eight straight points for the Frogs to claim a 16-12 lead.
Freshman Anthony Drimic found the bottom of the net for five straight points for Boise State. A breakaway layup by Marks gave the Broncos a 23-16 lead.
The Broncos extended their lead to 28-18 with 3:50 left in the first half. The Frogs cut the lead on a pair of free throws and a layup by Anderson, but a fade-away shot by Drimic, with less than a minute left, put the Broncos up by 10 points at the half, 31-21.
TCU shot 28 percent in the first half, compared to 42.9 percent for Boise State.
“Our whole focus for two days was to improve defense and in the first half we had some great shots that didn’t go in, and I thought we let it affect our defense toward the end of the half,” Christian said.
The Broncos extended their lead to 15 points in the second half, before junior forward Garlon Green hit a 3-pointer for the Frogs. Boise State maintained at least a 14-point lead until TCU went on a run to rein in the Broncos.
“When we went down, we decided we’re going to keep chipping at the lead and keep fighting all game,”
Anderson said. “I think me and the fellas stayed focus into doing that and getting it done.”
Thorns initiated the comeback with a bucket to cut the lead to 50-38. On the following possession, sophomore forward Amric Fields found Anderson in the corner for a 3-pointer.
A few plays later, junior forward Adrick McKinney stole the ball from Marks and found Fields, who had been quiet all night, for a break-away layup to cut the lead to seven points.
A 3-pointer by Fields followed by a senior guard J.R. Cadot’ layup cut the lead to 50-48. The Frogs were not done.
Fields hit a free throw to bring the Frogs within one point. Thorns finished off the comeback with a 3- pointer to take a 52-50 lead at the 2:37 mark.
Thorns gave the Frogs a four-point advantage on a driving layup. Senior guard Tre Nichols answered for the Broncos and made it a two-point game with 56.9 seconds left.
A 3-point attempt by Thorns fell short, giving the Broncos a chance to score with 20 seconds left in the game. TCU forced a jump ball with 3.1 seconds left, but Boise State maintained possession.
Nichols had an open 3-point attempt off the in-bounds pass at the buzzer, but was unable to connect.
Anderson said the team’s energy did a lot to help the team make their comeback.
“We had a lot of energy and felt like we needed to keep that going to get the win,” Anderson said.
The Frogs stepped up their defense to aid their second half comeback. The Broncos didn’t score a field goal after the 12:38 mark until Nichols’ bucket with 56.9 seconds left.
“When you’re playing at home in conference play, there’s a sense of urgency that you’re going to have to do what it takes to win the game regardless of what’s happened to that point,” Christian said. “Once we got it back to six or eight, now you got to start making plays. And we did.”
The Frogs will continue their home stand on Wednesday against Air Force. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. local time.
