It only took a minute and 19 seconds for everyone in Schollmaier Arena to know that Monday night was going to be the Mike Miles show.
On TCU’s first offensive possession of the game, the sophomore drilled a three-pointer to start the game’s scoring off. Seconds later, he hit another jumper, putting the Frogs up 5-0 before anyone could blink.
Throughout the game, Miles would go on to have 20 points, his second-straight game to reach that mark, leading TCU to a resounding 83-51 victory over Southern Miss in a game in which the Frogs never trailed.
“He’s [Miles] shown me what I already knew he could do, but even more though,” guard Micah Peavy said. “I didn’t know him as a leader, because I didn’t play with him. But he’s a leader on the court, and I enjoy playing with him.”
Peavy and Miles have been friends since high school. In his second game with the Frogs after transferring from Texas Tech, Peavy showed off his potential on the scoring end with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
Alongside Miles and Peavy, forward Emanuel Miller recorded his second-straight double-double, matching his stat line from last Thursday with 12 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.
For the second-straight contest, Miller led TCU to a massive advantage on the glass, as the Frogs outrebounded the Golden Eagles 53-27.
Unlike their season opener, TCU also looked strong in the area of efficiency, shooting just under 50% from the floor as a team. Last week against McNeese State, the Frogs shot just 35% from the field.
“We knew offensively, we’ve got to continue to improve. We’ve got a lot of guys, and that’s where your rhythm really comes from,” head coach Jamie Dixon said. “We’re trying to get guys to be a little bit better shooting from the perimeter than maybe they’ve been historically. That’s the challenge we’ve got right now.”
Following Miles’ strong start, the Frogs kept their offensive production strong, taking an 11-point lead by the midway point of the first half.
TCU would continue to roll, making six-straight shots at one point (three from Miles) to extend their lead to 29-16 with 7:40 remaining in the first half to force a Southern Miss timeout.
At the half, the Frogs held a comfortable 44-26 lead behind 53% shooting as a team and six of their eventual eight steals in the game.
TCU quickly pushed their lead to 22 to start the second half, but three-straight scores from Southern Miss guard Tae Hardy pulled the Eagles within 16.
Hardy finished the game with 18 points on 7-for-14 shooting and three steals. He was joined by forward Isaih Moore (11) as Southern Miss’ two players to score double-digit points.
“Defensively, [we are] pretty good. I feel like we can be better,” Dixon said. “Some of the stats, the goals we have, are hard to reach no matter the game or the opponent.”
Any momentum the Eagles gained from Hardy was short-lived, though, as the Frogs would go on to use an 11-0 run over a span of almost five minutes to take their biggest lead of the game at 77-44.
At that point, the students at Schollmaier Arena began to yell, “Harry! Harry! Harry!” in request of senior walk-on Harrison Young.
Dixon obliged, inserting Young and fellow walk-on Cole Despie into the game for the final 1:06. Young would take the pair’s lone shot, with his three-point attempt rimming out.
After emphasizing chemistry over the offseason, the Frogs had looked like a well-oiled machine in the win, totaling 20 assists as a squad.
When asked about how much better TCU is this year as opposed to a year ago, Miles made sure to highlight the way the Frogs have already bonded.
“We’re a lot better. I feel like this team is more focused, more focused on the main goal, and that’s winning,” Miles said. “Last year was kind of a tricky situation. I don’t think we really bonded as a team, and it showed in our record. This year, that’s really the main thing we’re trying to do is build chemistry, and we’ve been doing that and we got better from when we first got here to now, and we got better from last game to this game, so it’s going to build.”
The victory moves TCU to 2-0 to start a season for the eighth-straight year.
Up next, the Frogs will stay at home for a matchup with Nicholls State. Tip-off at Schollmaier Arena is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m.
