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Thursday,
November 29, 2001
Late
clutch defense lets Frogs escape
TCU
men’s basketball team struggled with defensive, offensive
play
By
Matt Stiver
Skiff Staff
Glaring
question marks on defense and interior play surfaced again,
but not enough to prevent the Frogs from escaping Daniel-Meyer
Coliseum with a 91-88 victory over Southwest Texas State Thursday
night.
Leading
by three with 2.9 seconds left, the Frogs denied Southwest
Texas guard Clay Click, who made eight three-pointers, a chance
at a new school record. Click could not get open, and Dain
Ervin, who had not attempted a three in the game, clanged
a shot off the backboard.
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David
Dunai/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Freshman
point guard Corey Santee goes for a layup Wednesday
night against Southwest Texas State. Santee had 20
points and dished out 12 assists in the Frogs, 91-88,
win.
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Lack
of depth and a tendency for breakdowns again became evident,
as the Frogs endured another close-call against a team from
the Southland Conference. Louisana-Monroe defeated TCU, 94-90,
on Sunday.
Though
TCU, behind junior Jamal Brown, out-rebounded the Southwest
Texas Bobcats 42-33, defense proved a weakness again.
Clutch
three-point shooting prevented either team from pulling away.
The Bobcats made their living from behind the three-point
line, tying a school-record with 16 three-pointers.
Click
and Marcus Johnson kept the Bobcats in the game, draining
long jumpers despite the presence of TCU defenders. Throughout
the second half, Click created space and hit NBA-range threes
despite hands in his face.
“When
they’re making them like that, there’s really not
much you can do except foul them,” head coach Billy Tubbs
said. “They came into the game shooting 42 percent, so
we knew they were a good three-point shooting team.”
Three
TCU players logged more than 35 minutes, as junior guard Junior
Blount led the Frogs with 28 points (4-8 three-pointers),
and freshman Corey Santee chipped in 20.
Southwest
Texas shooters were open all night for jumpers in the first
half. The Frogs practically handed the Bobcats the keys to
downtown. Click tied the single-game record with eight three-pointers.
Blount
said the Frogs prepared for off the ball screens, but the
Bobcats just hit their shots.
“The
coverage was there, and there’s not much more we could
have done,” Blount said.
TCU
struggled again on the offensive end of the floor, as set
plays often broke down into a street ball affair. The Frogs
again relied on athleticism, breaking down opponents and relying
on teammates to create open looks at the basket.
Brown,
while still looking for his role in the offense, camped out
under the basket on the other end and finished with a game-high
16 rebounds.
Southwest
Texas head coach Dennis Nutt, a stand-out guard with the Frogs
from 1981-85, said inside play was key down the stretch.
“Brown
either got a rebound or got fouled,” Nutt said. “That’s
tough to defend.”
Tubbs
said the past two games will help the Frogs prepare for play
in Conference USA, where the favored style relies on screens
and backpicks.
The
Frogs take on The General — Bob Knight — and the
Texas Tech Red Raiders at 4 p.m. Saturday in Lubbock.
Matt
Stiver
m.r.stiver@student.tcu.edu
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