TCU overwhelms Cincinnati, 75-57

Cincinnati entered Saturday's game at TCU needing a win in a bad way.

The Bearcats were coming off of a four-point home loss to last place Oklahoma State and were slowly fading out of the NCAA Tournament conversation.

TCU came in to Saturday's contest with an 11-2 home record and quickly showed why Cincinnati was going to have to play at a high level to pick up another road win.

In front of a "purple out" crowd, TCU opened the game making their first three field goal attempts and led 8-0 just one minute, 15 seconds into the game following Avery Anderson's second three pointer.

“We knew we had to fight from the jump, we went on a 8-0 run quick because we knew this team was hungry and we needed to impose our will from the jump,” TCU forward Emmanuel Miller told reporters following the game. 

Wes Miller decided to call a timeout and the Bearcats answered with a 7-2 run to cut the TCU lead to 10-7 coming out of the first media timeout. 

Dan Skillings three pointer with 12:44 remaining in the half cut the TCU lead to four, 14-10.

The 3-pointer by Skillings ended a field goal drought that spanned three minutes 24 seconds. 

With 10:48 remaining in the first half, TCU led by one, 16-15 and had made 7-of-12 field goal attempts. John Newman was also going to the bench after picking up his second foul of the half. 

Needing some momentum, Simas Lukosius knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to erase a five point TCU lead.

The 8-0 run in two minutes 45 seconds would come after TCU took a 20-15 lead with 9:14 remaining in the opening half.

Jamie Dixon's squad would answer the Cincinnati run with one of their own.

The Horned Frogs ended an over five minute scoring drought with a 9-0 run over the next 1:44 to give the Frogs a 29-23 lead with 4:32 remaining in the half. 

JaKobe Coles extended the TCU lead to 34-26 with a three pointer with 2:40 on the clock as the Frogs were 11-of-22 from the field and 4-of-8 from 3-point range.

Coles would finish with 11 first half points as the Frogs led 39-32 after the first twenty minutes. 

TCU made 11-of-12 free throws and scored eight points off seven UC turnovers to give the home team the halftime advantage. 

Avery Anderson quickly extended the TCU lead to nine, 41-32, to open the second half.

UC put together an 8-3 run over the next 3:47 to cut the TCU lead to four, 44-40, but JaKobe Coles answered the UC run with a wide open three from the top of the key to extend the lead back to seven, 47-40.

 Things continued to spiral out of control for the Bearcats.

With 11:31 left in the game, TCU led 57-44.

Jameer Nelson Jr scored five straight to key an 8-0 TCU run to give the the Frogs their largest lead of the game. 

Trevian Tennyson continued the Frogs' hot shooting with a three to extend the TCU lead to 63-46 

TCU missed their next five field goal attempts following Tennyson's three as the Bearcats cut the lead to 12, 63-51 with 7:52 on the clock. 

Simas Lukosius buried a three and Bandaogo had a dunk during the mini 5-0 run. 

TCU missed 8-of-9 field goal attempts during a cold streak but the closest the Bearcats could get was 12.

With 5:04 left in the game, TCU extended the lead to 16, 69-53.

Emmanuel Miller scored the next four as TCU pushed their lead out to 20 points, 73-53. 

(Photo: Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

Cincinnati had four turnovers and missed 6-of-7 field goal attempts during TCU's 8-0 run to end any hope of a Bearcat comeback.

TCU didn't score over the final 2:45 of the game but it didn't matter as the Frogs walked off their home floor with a 75-57 win.

“This was a very good team we beat by a good margin,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said following the game. “It was a good team effort.”

Final Stats/Notes:

- Cincinnati finished with 17 turnovers as TCU turned those Bearcat mistakes in to 16 points. The Frogs entered the game leading the country in fast break points and finished with 25 to turn a close game in to a blow out.

"TCU punished us for those mistakes," Wes Miller told reporters following the game. "They punished us in transition for communication and focus errors. They punished us for turnovers and poor shots and poor decisiions with the ball. And they were much quicker to the ball on the boards"

- TCU out-rebounded the Bearcats in the first game, 41-35, and did it again today, 33-32. Cincinnati really struggled with TCU's physicality at bioth ends, even though they outscored the Frogs 28-26 in the paint. TCU's ball pressure and aggressiveness on the perimeter was noticeable. Aziz Bandaogo led UC on the boards with 9, to go with six points. 

- Emmanuel Miller led TCU with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists. Jakobe Coles also finished with 18 points. Defensively, Cincinnait struggled to defend Coles away from the basket as he knocked down multiple jump shots and went 2-of-4 from three. 

- Day Day Thomas led Cincinnati with 13 points. Thomas' jumper with 14:08 remaining in the game cut the TCU lead to five, 49-44, but UC simply couldn't get over the hump defensively or string enough positive possessions together to make a comeback.

- Dan Skillings, Jamille Reynolds, and Simas Lukosius all scored nine points. Skillings turnovers continue to be an issue. He finished with four today and continues to get sped up, leading to mental errors. The mistakes and turnovers are easily fixed by just slowing down. Reynolds continues to be a bright spot and continues to get better. He pulled down three rebounds and made three of his four field goal attempts in 14 minutes. 

- Cincinnati was limited to .88 points per possession and had turnovers on 26 percent of their possessions. It is difficult to win on the road and even more difficult to do it when the final numbers look like that in those two categories.

Final Thoughts:

Cincinnati had their chances but failed to get stops when they needed them. TCU missed 8-of-9 field goal attempts during a stretch in the second half while leading by 16. The closest the Bearcats could get during that stretch was 12 points. TCU finally started making shots and put together an 8-0 run to turn the game in to a blow out. 

For the first time this season, Cincinnati lacked consistency on the road in multiple phases of the game. They were physically worn down and didn't match TCU's intensity at both ends, especially defensively. 

Wes Miller's squad falls to 16-11 and is now sitting at eleventh in the Big 12 with a 5-9 record. 

With Houston up next, the Bearcats will have little turn the page quickly.

Post Game Videos: