It was supposed to be a meaningful, sort of revenge game for Micah Peavy.
The sophomore transferred from Texas Tech to TCU in April 2021 and Saturday was his first time back in Lubbock’s United Supermarkets Arena.
With 5:11 left to go in the game, Peavy walked off of the court to boos from the crowd. He had fouled out with as many fouls as he had points scored, and TCU was down by nearly 20 points.
It was the final straw in what had been a glass case of emotions for TCU, as they had held a 13-point lead with five minutes left in the first half before going down by as much as 22 late in the second half.
The Frogs would end up falling 82-69 to the No. 9 Red Raiders, giving up their most points allowed all season in front of an intimidating 14,810 opposing fans.
Texas Tech is now 15-0 on the season at home.
All 5 of Peavy’s points had been scored in the first part of the first half while TCU was cruising before he and the Frogs went cold and were outscored by 35 in a nearly 20-minute stretch of the game.
“They did all of the things that we wanted to do,” head coach Jamie Dixon said. “We got off to a lead just based on making some shots, getting some open ones, hitting threes. Probably not going to happen for 40 minutes. I’m not sure that we understood that.”
For the second time in three games, half of TCU’s shots had been from behind the arc. Though they finished a decent 41% from deep, the Frogs had missed 12 of their last 17 attempts in the game.
After missing the last two games with wrist injuries, guard Mike Miles returned in the game for TCU, finishing 5-for-9 from the field with a team-high 16 points.
“I felt surprisingly good. They still hurt all game, but when I’m in and adrenaline [hits], I don’t really feel it,” Miles said. “They hurt right now. It was encouraging. I wish it had been a win that I played and scored the ball.”
Leading Texas Tech’s offense was guard Terrance Shannon Jr. The junior, who has missed 11 games this year with injury, scored a game-high 20 points, pouring in 10 in each half.
Three other Red Raiders finished with double-digit points, and the four combined for 59 of Texas Tech’s 82 points on the night.
Despite not having played in 12 days, Miles looked like his old self immediately to start the game. The sophomore hit a three on his first shot of the day to help lead TCU to an early 8-4 advantage.
Hearing it from his former home crowd, Peavy looked rattled after coming off the bench a few minutes into the contest. He let a ball go by him that led to a backcourt violation, then fouled Shannon Jr. on a made three to give up a four-point play.
The guard then settled down, hitting his first three since Dec. 21 to put the Frogs up 11-7.
Ranked dead last in the Big 12 in three-point percentage, TCU started the game uncharacteristically hot from behind the arc. They made six of their first 10 three-point attempts to give themselves a 13-point lead at the midway point of the first half.
Things began to go downhill for the Frogs after that. Though the Red Raiders’ second-leading scorer, Kevin McCullars, went down with an ankle injury late in the first half, Texas Tech began to slowly take the game over.
The Red Raiders ended the half on a monstrous 15-5 run, taking advantage of foul trouble for TCU to cut the Frogs’ lead to 40-37 at the halftime break.
TCU had been called for 10 fouls in the first half alone, giving Texas Tech 14 free throw attempts. The Frogs had taken just four free-throw attempts during that span.
Regardless, things at that point still looked salvageable for TCU, as a game-high 11 points from Miles hinted at a potential breakout for the star and an upset opportunity for the Frogs.
Then, the floodgates opened for Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders popped off on a 9-0 run to start the second half, putting the Frogs down by 6 before they could even blink.
The first four points of the game for forward Eddie Lampkin helped bring TCU back within 4, but Texas Tech then outscored the Frogs by 17 over the next six minutes, led by 6 points from Shannon.
Things got even worse with 5:43 remaining, when a three-pointer by guard Davion Warren gave the Red Raiders their biggest lead of the game at 22 (78-56).
“They were just a different team in the second half, and that’s why they won,” Miles said.
The closest TCU would get was 12 after that point, but a suffocating Texas Tech defense and a rowdy crowd had already put the nails in the coffin on a Frog victory.
The Big 12’s best rebounding team, the Frogs had tied the Red Raiders on the board with 30. Nearly every other statistic had finished in favor of Texas Tech.
“I think they led in everything else. They had 29 free throws to our 12. We had a couple at the end,” Dixon said. “The only thing I said we led in was three-point attempts. We obliterated them on that.”
TCU shot 27 three-pointers in the game to Texas Tech’s nine.
Besides Miles, guard Damion Baugh was the only other Frog in double-figures, finishing with 14 points. The Memphis transfer led the game with five turnovers.
Of TCU’s 20 turnovers in the game, 13 had come in the final 20 minutes.
Still looking to make an NCAA tournament push, TCU will host Iowa State on Tuesday night. Tipoff in Schollmaier Arena is scheduled for 8 p.m. on ESPNU.
