3 takeaways from TCU's 86-73 loss to top-ranked Arizona

FORT WORTH, Texas — TCU men’s basketball dropped its second straight Big 12 game, as the Horned Frogs failed to keep pace with No. 1 Arizona in an 86-73 loss Saturday at Schollmaier Arena.

The Wildcats (16-0, 3-0) looked every bit like a national title contender as they were bigger, stronger and more skilled than TCU (11-5, 1-2) by a wide margin.

“Arizona is obviously a good team that does what they do,” head coach Jamie Dixon said. “I thought we could come out and disrupt a little bit with our defense, but we couldn’t. They were comfortable in the half court, comfortable in transition and comfortable on the offensive glass.

But as they had done all game, the Wildcats immediately responded with a run of their own to retain control. Arizona used a 7-0 run sparked by Anthony Dell’Orso to take a 72-58 lead with 4:33 remaining. The Horned Frogs wouldn’t get within 10 points the rest of the way.

“I think the biggest thing is when the No. 1 team in the country comes here and hasn’t lost a game, they can’t want it more from the start,” guard Brock Harding said. “I think they kind of punked us a little early and once you get down 18 in this conference it’s really hard to come back.

“We fought in the second half, I give our team credit for not giving up, but we’ve just gotta start better than that especially in conference play at home.”

While there’s no shame in losing to the top-ranked team in the country, the defeat only makes Tuesday’s collapse in overtime at No. 22 Kansas sting even more.

Had TCU not blown a 15-point second half lead against the Jayhawks, then the Horned Frogs would sit at 2-1 in conference play. The Big 12 remains deeper than ever, and the Horned Frogs can’t afford to give away games like they did against the Jayhawks.

TCU will next face No. 9 BYU and projected top-five NBA draft pick AJ Dybantsa on Wednesday in Provo, Utah.

Here are three more takeaways from Saturday’s game:

Facing another lottery pick

TCU continued its gauntlet of facing some of college basketball’s most talented players, as the Horned Frogs had to slow down potential NBA lottery pick Koa Peat Saturday, days after facing projected No. 1 pick Darryn Peterson in the loss against Kansas.

Peat, a 6-foot-8 freshman forward, is projected as a top-12 pick by ESPN and USA Today.

Against the Horned Frogs, Peat matched the hype, leading the Wildcats with 12 points and five rebounds in the first half. Peat fit in well with Arizona’s veteran lineup, as the freshman didn’t force the issue and played within the offense. He did all of his damage in the first half inside the paint, throwing down dunks, scoring on offensive rebounds and also playing tremendous defense in the paint.

His strength on defense was particularly impressive for a freshman, as TCU big men Xavier Edmonds and David Punch struggled to create good looks inside the lane thanks in large part to the defense of Peat. Peat continued to make highlight plays in the second half, including blocking a Jace Posey shot at the rim and hitting a key turnaround jumper during the decisive run for the Wildcats.

“I challenged him to play good today and he did,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “He played really well. To come on the road in this environment and play the way he did in a physical game it says something about him as a player.”

Peat led Arizona with 20 points and added seven rebounds and three assists.

Tanner Toolson makes an impact

One of the few bright spots for TCU on Saturday was the play of Toolson off the bench. He led TCU with 20 points and had a hand in most of the runs the Horned Frogs used to keep the game relatively close. Toolson did everything for TCU, including making a season-high three 3-pointers, blocking shots on defense and crashing the glass with six rebounds.

Toolson made his first five shots in the second half and almost willed TCU to a comeback by himself. The Horned Frogs needed his production as starting wing Liutauras Lelevicius went scoreless and sophomore forward Micah Robinson also struggled with just five points, snapping a streak of four games with 10 or more points.

Toolson’s performance wasn’t able to spark a comeback, but it could lead to a bigger role for the Utah Valley transfer down the road.

“I bring energy, I play hard and tonight I happened to make my shots,” Toolson said. “With my role I feel like I’ve got to come in and be a spark. Tonight I was able to knock down some shots and do what I can to help this team win.”

Defensive master class

Arizona rose to the top of the rankings with a high-powered offense that entered Saturday averaging 91.5 points per game. As efficient as the Wildcats were offensively, it was the defensive effort that put TCU in a bind. The Horned Frogs shot just 32% in the first half and almost had as many turnovers (seven) as they did field goals (nine) as they trailed by 16 at the half.

The Horned Frogs are far from an offensive juggernaut, but TCU has typically been able to create open looks off the pick-and-roll with Brock Harding or by feeding Punch in the post. The Wildcats shut most of that down, forcing TCU to use up most of the shot clock just to get a shot up.

TCU found more success offensively in the second half, as the Horned Frogs shot over 50% from the field, but the inability to make the Wildcats pay from 3 doomed TCU’s comeback chances in the second half. TCU shot just 29% from 3 (6-for-21).

“Offensively we just weren’t clean enough,” Dixon said. “Didn’t have the right spacing, passing or decision-making early. Second half we got some stops and had a little bit more transition, but we dug ourselves a hole.”

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