After a stunning season-opening loss to New Orleans on Monday, TCU gets a chance to regroup when it takes on Saint Francis on Thursday night in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Horned Frogs (0-1) lost their opener for the first time in Jamie Dixon’s 10 seasons. They got off to a slow start against New Orleans and trailed by 20 with seven minutes left. TCU stormed back to make it a one-possession game in the final minutes, but it couldn’t avoid what Dixon described as an “extremely disappointing” loss.
“They outplayed us and got what they deserved,” Dixon said. “They outexecuted us, they outtoughed us. We weren’t ready to go. I don’t know why.”
TCU received more bad news a day after the 78-74 defeat as it announced Tuesday that starting center Malick Diallo will miss the season with a torn ACL in his left knee. He played just seven minutes Monday before suffering the injury battling for an offensive rebound. The Horned Frogs expected Diallo to play a pivotal role in the frontcourt this season, but they’ll have to find ways to work around depth issues.
TCU also must find ways improve its 3-point shooting. The Frogs were the only Big 12 team that failed to make 200 3-pointers last season as they shot a league-worst 30.0% from deep — and they started this season 3-for-27 on 3-point tries.
The long ball is something to keep an eye on Thursday. Oklahoma knocked down 11 3-pointers in its 102-66 victory over Saint Francis on Monday, something TCU would like to replicate.
The Red Flash (0-1), who qualified for their first NCAA Tournament since 1991 by winning last year’s NEC tournament, had a couple notable performances despite their lopsided loss to OU. Sixth-year guard Skylar Wicks scored a team-high 20 points and Zion Russell finished with a career-high 15 points.
This will be the first meeting between TCU and Saint Francis. The last time Saint Francis visited the Lone Star State was on Dec. 21, 2016, an 81-58 loss at Texas A&M.