TCU Athletics
If you give Trey Tennyson this much room to get off a shot, chances are good he'll drain it.
The best pastime going to get from Monday to Friday this time of year is Big 12 men’s basketball.
And then, of course, we’ve got games each Saturday.
The Big 12 is the best basketball conference in the land. There’s no waiting till March for the madness.
Thankfully, we’re knee deep in it here. TCU needed three overtimes on Saturday to outlast the arch-ecumenical adversaries at Baylor.
On Tuesday, the Horned Frogs looked anything but the tired team in giving Texas Tech, the league leaders — a temporary status in the Big 12 this season — the business in an 85-78 victory at Schollmaier Arena. The Frogs did it by winning key metrics. TCU bruised smaller Texas Tech on the boards, outrebounding the Red Raiders 34-27. TCU grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and outscored Tech 14-0 on second-chance points.
The Frogs got a further edge in number of possessions by forcing 13 turnovers to their nine committed.
TCU shot 55% from the 3-point line. Micah Peavy, who had three 3-point makes in Big 12 games, make all four of his attempts in scoring 18 points. All of them were good, wide-open shots.
Trey Tennyson was 4 for 8 from back there in scoring a team-high 23 points.
At one point, TCU (16-5 overall, 5-3 Big 12) made eight consecutive 3-point attempts.
It was all going right for the Frogs, who overcame an 11-point first-half deficit.
“I'm proud of our guys. It was all 10 guys. All gave us something. All gave us good minutes,” coach TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “Trey just keeps getting working. I'm sure he's in the gym right now. But just goes to show, he's gotten so much better since he got here defensively, playing without the ball and ball screens. He could always shoot, that was clear.”
The Frogs crept up a step in the Big 12. Houston is 6-2, Tech and Iowa State are 5-3, and then appear the Frogs and Kansas at 5-3. Behind them are seven others, all of them coveting their neighbors' position on the ladder and with no commandment or lack of ambition from taking it. It's a dog-eat-dog world here in the big leagues.
A word of caution as the season progresses: If you need something for anxiety, stock up.
Tennyson is a great story.
He grew up down the street, graduating from Mansfield Legacy. He was very lightly recruited. As a result, he’s been places.
He began his college career at Central Connecticut State, playing there for one season before transferring to Ranger College, just west of here.
He played two seasons at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, earning all Southland Conference honors after leading his team in scoring at 15.7 points a game last season. He broke the school record for 3-pointers in a season.
Tennyson came home for his final season. He has gone not recruited to being a key contributor on a good team in the very best conference in the country.
He averages 10 points in 25 minutes a game. Tennyson, who wears No. 11, can shoot it. He has made a team-high 46% from the long range.
He might be the very best example of why it’s a good thing the NCAA has liberalized its transfer policy.
“We didn't think he'd be this good, he wasn't this good early, but you he was better than I thought because he could shoot it so well,” Dixon said. “After six or seven games, we had to have him on the floor. I knew he'd be in the right spot offensively. I knew he'd be in the right spot defensively. You need some guys that do that. And it helps that he can make shots too at that range.
“Everybody talks about the transfers. But you see a thing like this where a kid grew up in Arlington and nobody recruited him out of high school and then he just works himself up and now he's playing in front of his family. It's so fun to see his family here watching the game. So, you know, there's some good out of this transfer thing, too. You had a kid that's played in front of his folks and he'll have a TCU degree and a graduate degree and it's pretty cool.”
The Frogs host Texas on Saturday. Former TCU star and current NBA player Kenrich Williams will have his jersey number retired.
Whatever you do, no horns down. It triggers the most orange flag-wavers of the Bat City. And you better get a hand in No. 11's face, Burnt Orange. Just sayin'.
