Houston Pounds TCU in Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Houston dominated TCU from the start and won, 60-45, in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament at T-Mobile Center on Thursday.
Houston (29-3), the No. 1 seed, will face No. 4 seed Texas Tech in a Big 12 semifinal at 6 p.m. Friday. Houston is seeking to win the Big 12 Tournament in its first year in the conference after winning the regular-season crown.
TCU (21-11), the No. 8 seed, now appears to be safely in the field for the NCAA Tournament after Wednesday’s win over Oklahoma, at least according to ESPN’s Bracketology. If the Horned Frogs make the tournament it would be a school-record third straight berth.
This was the rare Big 12 game, regular season or tournament, where the team that amassed an early double-digit lead was never seriously threatened. Houston led by as many as 23 points.
Jamal Shead, the Big 12 Player and Defensive Player of the Year, had 12 points, two rebounds and five assists. But Emanuel Sharp led Houston with 14 points. J’Wan Roberts and eight points and 10 assists.
Micah Peavy was the only Horned Frog to crack double figures as, he had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Horned Frogs were one of three teams to beat Houston in the regular season (Iowa State and Kansas are the others). But that win was on Jan. 13 in Fort Worth, a 68-67 victory in which Emanuel Miller hit a basket with six minutes left to give the Horned Frogs the lead.
This game was a much different animal and one that reflected the fact that Houston had won 14 of 15 since that loss and was the nation’s No. 1 team in the AP poll on Monday for the third week in a row.
How bad was it early? TCU missed its first 14 shots from the floor, a streak that dragged on for eight minutes as Houston also forced the Horned Frogs into a pair of turnovers. Meanwhile, Houston took a 16-0 lead and shot 64% from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Peavy finally ended the drought with a put-back with 10:20 left in the first half.
TCU managed to keep Houston from completely running away and hiding, but by halftime the Cougars were up, 31-15. TCU did manage to avoid breaking a record for fewest first-half points, which was set in 2003 by Oklahoma, which scored 12 points. Oddly, Houston’s coach, Kelvin Sampson, coached that OU team.
Houston utterly dominated TCU, shooting 48% from the floor and 38% from 3, forcing 11 TCU turnovers and turning those into 12 points. TCU failed to make a 3-pointer in seven attempts and shot 19%. The only area TCU really had an edge was on the glass, 29-18.
The Horned Frogs lost Miller for the final minutes of the first half to what appeared to be an ankle injury. He returned in the second half but only scored three points in 34 minutes.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
