(Photo/Gregg Ellman )
COLUMBIA, MO – TCU (9-7) came up short in overtime to No. 12 Missouri (11-3) in a close 102-98 matchup on Saturday afternoon.
TCU came into this game hungry for a win, and it showed. The Horned Frogs looked like a totally different team today against the Tigers than when they played Kansas earlier this week.
It was a back and forth battle for both teams the entire first half. TCU started the game off with a great offense. They were making it rain from every spot on the court and had great ball movement within the entire offense. TCU was very unselfish with the ball and had every player on the court involved in every play. The Horned Frogs had 25 points come off the bench in tonight’s matchup.
TCU had 24 points in the paint compared to Missouri’s 22 points in the paint at the half. The 24 points that TCU had in the paint was not all from Samuel, but from the guards penetrating the basket and getting easy looks. They were running the floor on offense and wasting no time to get the ball up the court to penetrate the basket.
The Horned Frogs defense was very focused the entire first half. They held the Tigers to 38 points in the first 20 minutes of play and forced Missouri to take the outside shots.
TCU went into the half up 43-38. The Horned Frogs shot 59 percent from the floor in the first half and made 14 of the last 18 shots before going into the locker room. TCU’s high shooting percentage largely came from Freshman guard, Mike Miles, he had a career-high 28 points and led TCU with 10 points at the half.
The second half continued to go in TCU’s favor. They continued to shoot the lights out of the gym. The Horned Frogs went on a run late in the second half and made seven of the last eight shots, going up 12 points on the Tigers with 5.3 minutes remaining.
What seemed to be an upset brewing in Mizzou Arena, The Tigers made a comeback. With 3.5 minutes left in regulation Kevin Samuel fouls out of the game. Missouri recognizes the mismatch and starts feeding the ball to their start forward, Jeremiah Tilmon. If Tilmon wasn’t open Xavier Pinson was knocking down every three-pointer he shot. Both players had career-high nights. Tilmon had 33 points and 11 rebounds, and Pinson had 36 points.
The Tigers go on a 18-7 run and make it a four point game with 10 seconds remaining. The Tigers then foul, sending TCU to the line, where they shot 76 percent for the night. Miles hit two free throws making it a 89-86 game with 10 seconds left. Pinson then comes back and hits a three-pointer with 3.2 seconds left sending this game into overtime.
Both teams battled the entire overtime. Tilmon and Pinson rocked the house the entire overtime and led the Tigers to a 102-98 victory over the Horned Frogs.
