With Big 12 play on the horizon, TCU is searching for some consistency as it hosts South Alabama on Monday night in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Horned Frogs (5-4) are reeling with losses in three of their last four and were dealt a significant blow when the program announced leading scorer Frankie Collins (foot) is done for the season. Collins sustained the injury in TCU’s 83-74 loss to Vanderbilt on Dec. 8 and will undergo surgery on Tuesday.
Collins is leading the team in scoring (11.2 points), assists (4.4) and steals (1.9). Vasean Allette and Noah Reynolds are the most likely candidates to fill Collins’ void.
Outside of Collins’ injury, TCU is also trying to find ways to improve in several areas, including free throws and turnovers. The Frogs are one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the country, making just 60.1 percent of their attempts to rank 358th nationally entering Sunday. TCU was just 14-of-26 in the loss to Vanderbilt. As far as turnovers, TCU is averaging 11.6 per game.
TCU coach Jamie Dixon also mentioned his team isn’t rebounding at the level he’d like.
“I could probably sum it up with those three things (free throws, turnovers, rebounding),” Dixon said following the Vanderbilt game. “Rebounding is what we drilled, drilled, drilled … we’re not getting the message across so I have to find a different way.
“Free throws, we’re working on it more than any team probably in the country. Then the turnovers, that’s out of character.”
For South Alabama (7-3), this is the backend of a back-to-back trip to Texas. The Jaguars defeated East Texas A&M 81-72 on Sunday afternoon in Commerce before heading to Fort Worth.
One storyline to watch is South Alabama’s ability to force turnovers. The Jaguars have forced 14.7 turnovers per game, including 18 by Jacksonville State and 20 by East Texas A&M in the past two games. Those turnovers have led to 18.4 points per game for the Jaguars.
“We have to be pesky,” South Alabama coach Richie Riley said recently. “We can’t be one of these teams who sit back and are very plain Jane. We can’t do that. We have to be unique in how we play. We have to be scrappy. We have to be pesky.”
Monday marks the first meeting between the programs on the hardwood.
–Field Level Media
