No. 21 TCU will be on the hunt for its seventh straight win and some added momentum for the Big 12 season when it hosts Mississippi Valley State on Sunday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Horned Frogs (8-1) are at home after an 83-75 neutral court win over rival SMU on Dec. 10. Mike Miles Jr. scored 18 points in the victory and the TCU defense held SMU to a 2 of 14 showing on 3-pointers in the game. The Horned Frogs shot 46.8 percent overall and 40 (6 of 15) percent on 3-pointers.
Micah Peavy, Eddie Lampkin Jr. and Emanuel Miller added 11 points each in the win while Chuck O’Bannon Jr. had 10, including a pair of late free throws after TCU’s lead was cut from 18 points to eight in the final minutes.
“We get big leads, but we always seem to lose them,” TCU’s Damion Baugh said. “Once SMU pressed, I feel we tried to slow it down a little bit, and we should have just kept going and being aggressive.”
The Horned Frogs’ only loss was a 64-63 upset at home to Northwestern State on Nov. 14.
Miles, the conference’s preseason player of the year, returned after missing a game and scored in double figures for the 11th consecutive contest dating back to last season.
“It felt good getting back into the flow of things, being out there with my team, helping in any way I can,” Miles said afterward.
TCU has not started a game this season with the same five players as coach Jamie Dixon deals with injuries and rotation battles.
“Our depth is a positive, but we gotta get some good work in with these guys, conditioning wise,” Dixon said. “I do think that’s somewhere we’re not where we need to be with too many guys missing practices.”
The Delta Devils (1-11) travel to Fort Worth after a 66-51 loss at Tulsa on Friday. Mississippi Valley State was within three points after an Alvin Stredic layup with 13:42 to play but then surrendered a 12-0 run that all but decided the game.
Kadar Waller led Mississippi Valley State with 12 points (seven of them from the free throw line) and eight rebounds in the loss. The Devil Devils went the final 5:25 without making a field goal, shot just 36.2 percent from the floor and committed 22 turnovers that led to 19 points for Tulsa.
All 11 of Mississippi Valley State’s losses have come away from home, including setbacks at Baylor, Hawaii, Missouri, Mississippi State and Wichita State. Its lone win was at home against North Alabama on Nov. 18.
“In a competitive world, everything is about trying to win games,” Mississippi Valley State coach George Ivory said about his team and its growth curve. “That’s what we’re stressing now.”
TCU and Mississippi Valley State have played four times previously, with the Horned Frogs winning each game, including most recently a 106-53 victory in Fort Worth on Nov. 24, 2014.
–Field Level Media
