Men’s Basketball: Emanuel Miller’s heroics lift TCU over Georgetown

The Horned Frog senior nailed a game-winning buzzer-beater to propel TCU to an 84-83 win on Saturday.

TCU forward Emanuel Miller delivered arguably the biggest shot of his career as a Horned Frog on Saturday, when TCU faced off against Georgetown in the Big East vs. Big 12 Challenge in Washington D.C. With the Horned Frogs down by two points and less than five seconds remaining in regulation, Miller launched a 30-footer from well beyond the arc, which banked off the glass and into the hoop as time expired, enabling the Horned Frogs to escape with an 84-83 win over the Hoyas. The heroic effort capped off a season-best effort from Miller, who scored a team-high 29 points and went 12-for-18 from the field in the win.

The buzzer-beating miracle generated some controversy on social media, as questions surfaced as to whether or not Miller’s foot was on the out-of-bounds line when he fired the shot. The call was not reviewable, however, and TCU held on to defeat Georgetown and keep its unbeaten start to the season alive. The Horned Frogs (7-0) led 44-36 at halftime, but the Hoyas caught fire from the 3-point line, converting 12 triples in the game and scoring 47 second-half points to put the Horned Frogs in a deficit over the final seconds. While TCU shot 52 percent from the field, Georgetown shot 48 percent from 3-point land.

JaKobe Coles added 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting with five rebounds and two blocks for the Horned Frogs, who will look to extend their winning streak to eight and continue their perfect season with a neutral site game against Clemson in Toronto on Saturday night. Jameer Nelson Jr. contributed nine points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals during TCU’s win over Georgetown, while Avery Anderson III led the Horned Frog bench with 11 points and seven rebounds. Trey Tennyson chipped in eight points and two made triples off the bench for the Horned Frogs, who outscored the Hoyas 44-20 in the paint.

TCU continued to have success with its tempo on Saturday, outscoring Georgetown 20-10 on the fast break and 21-11 in points off turnovers. The Horned Frogs held a slim advantage on the boards, outrebounding the Hoyas 35-31 and outscoring Georgetown 21-15 on second chance points. The game featured eight lead changes and three ties, with the final lead change coming on Miller’s buzzer-beating shot. Micah Peavy compiled six points along with four assists for the Horned Frogs, who saw each of their three big men (Ernest Udeh Jr., Xavier Cork and Essam Mostafa) struggled with foul trouble. The trio combined for eight personal fouls and just two points, with Udeh Jr. and Cork going scoreless in the game.