With the ball solely in his hands, TCU guard Alex Robinson scored eight points and school-record 17 assists in a victory over Iowa State.
He followed that performance with 13 points, six assists and five rebounds against Kansas State.
Most recently, he notched 17 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists in an upset victory over No. 7 West Virgina, all without sophomore guard Jaylen Fisher who underwent season-ending surgery on a torn meniscus Tuesday.
During that stretch, he tallied 32 assists and 11 turnovers.
Following the top-10 victory, he drew admiration from West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins.
“He’s as good as anybody in our league at finding open people,” Huggins said.
Robinson has filled Fisher’s void, as expected by his peers.
“He’s always been big for us,” head coach Jamie Dixon said. “I hesitate when people say we lost our starter [in Fisher]. Alex is a starter. We’ve always known how good he is.”
His teammates concur.
“Alex is great for us,” Vladimir Brodziansky said. “Now, with Fisher out, he’ll have to step up, but we all know he can.”
Robinson, an Arlington native and former four-star recruit, originally committed to Texas A&M, announced his decision to transfer to TCU during former head coach Trent Johnson’s final campaign.
“Alex is an explosive point guard,” Johnson said. “He plays with good speed and is capable of making plays for himself as well as his teammates.”
Robinson averaged 5.2 points and 2.6 assists as an Aggie freshman. Now in his junior season, he’s good for 8.3 points and 5.6 assists per contest.
“Just being close to home and getting a chance to play for my mom’s alma mater was pretty big for me,” Robinson said. “She’s done a lot for me, so getting this opportunity to wear her number and represent her and her school is pretty cool. I just thought it was a great opportunity.”
Dixon, the holder of one of the best guard duos in the conference, reminisces about what could have been with two healthy guards.
“The reality is, they haven’t really played together very much,” Dixon said. “They’ve played together at some points, but we’ve rarely had them together at full strength. It hasn’t gone as we planned.”
Luckily for the Horned Frogs, they know how to win with Robinson at the helm.
In TCU’s first game of the National Invitational Tournament last season, Fisher broke his wrist, suffering a season-ending injury. Robinson led the Horned Frogs through the tournament and hoisted the trophy at the end.
The Big 12, which is widely regarded as the toughest conference in the nation, will test Robinson and the Frogs, but the Horned Frogs are prepared. Robinson will look to continue his hot streak into the Big 12/SEC Challenge against Vanderbilt in Nashville. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
