Men’s Basketball: Horned Frogs, led by freshman Posey, defeat Sun Devils

TCU is now 7-7 in Big 12 play.

The TCU Horned Frogs are inching closer and closer to an NCAA Tournament appearance. Despite regularly being left out of tournament discussions, the Frogs are now 14-11 overall and 7-7 in the Big 12, following their 4-point win in Tempe against the Arizona State Sun Devils. Although the hype has waned for the Horned Frogs, it’s worth noting that TCU went 8-10, 9-9, and 9-9 in conference play in their last three seasons. There’s a real opportunity for the Frogs to finish above .500 in arguably the best conference in college basketball. Now, onto the Frogs’ seventh Big 12 victory.

TCU and Arizona State went back-and-forth to begin the affair, including four lead changes and three ties in the first four minutes of action. Then, the Horned Frogs caught a spark, scoring eight straight to build a six-point lead with just under 15 minutes left in the first half.

Four free throws from freshman Jace Posey would increase TCU’s advantage to 10 points. The Sun Devils came within double-digits around the 12-and-a-half-minute-mark before a Noah Reynolds layup increased the margin to 10 once more. The Sun Devils responded nicely, cutting TCU’s lead to only five over the next three minutes of game time. TCU’s lead would stretch back to 10 after a Trazarien White triple with under three minutes to go. Going into the half, TCU led 38-31. Nearly a third of TCU’s first half points came via the bench. Posey led the reserves with eight.

The Sun Devils started strong in the second half, scoring the first four points to narrow the deficit to three. TCU prevailed, scoring the next three to build a six-point advantage. A few minutes later, a Posey lay-up and subsequent free throw led to a nine-point Horned Frogs lead. Led by a fantastic second half from Posey, TCU remained in front, holding a 10-point advantage from much of the latter half.

Arizona State began to start chipping away at TCU’s lead with just over six minutes to go. TCU led 61-50 at one point before the Sun Devils rattled off 12-2 run over the next three minutes of action. With a tick over three minutes remaining, TCU’s lead dwindled to a single point. Clutch Reynolds’ free throws and a monstrous Posey jam put the Frogs up by five with a minute and 42 seconds remaining.

The Sun Devils bounced back, scoring five straight to tie the game within a minute. At 67-67, Jamie Dixon put the ball in his closer, Reynolds’s, hands. With under 20 seconds to go, Reynolds somehow drilled an off-balance three-pointer to break the tie. The Horned Frogs led 70-67 as the clock inched toward zeros.

Following an Arizona State turnover, the Horned Frogs’ Allette sunk two free throws to build a five-point advantage. A Sun Devils’ triple cut the lead back to two before Allette sealed the deal with two more free throws. TCU ended up winning 74-70 to secure a .500 record in Big 12 play. The Horned Frogs are now 8-1 in games decided by five points or less.

Reynolds and Posey willed TCU to the victory. The senior scored 19, while the freshman had a career-high 20 points. Posey went 6-of-8 from the floor and converted 8-of-10 free throws. Allette also scored in double figures, adding 14 points and hauling in nine boards. With help from Posey, the Horned Frogs shot 74.2 percent from the charity stripe, connecting on 23-of-31 attempts. TCU also won the ever-important rebounding battle, 39-27.

Next up are the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The 12th-ranked Red Raiders defeated TCU by 14 points less than a month ago. This time around, the Horned Frogs will host the Red Raiders at home in the Schollmaier. The rivals will face off on February 18 at 7:00 p.m. CT.