On Tuesday night the Lobos visited Daniel-Meyer Coliseum with a
lot to prove.
TCU (10-6, 2-1) defeated us twice last year and put the
nail in the coffin for the Ritchie McKay era; more importantly the
Lobos had their toughness questioned after their previous game against
the Aztecs. In that game the Lobos (14-4, 1-2) were outrebounded by 11
rebounds, and the Lobos certainly responded by achieving an 11 board
advantage of their own in this game. It wasn't enough as the Lobos
fell 74-72 after another putrid night from the charity stripe, a 46
point second half by TCU and a one hit wonder from former Lobo
Ryan Wall. A questionable no call on a timeout (when they had none) by TCU
may have cost us the final score, but we lost the game.
In the first half, the Lobos played an inspired twenty minutes
of basketball ending the final 11:43 on a 35-20 run. Despite TCU's
height and athleticism advantage in their front court, the Lobos held a
stunning nine rebound advantage at the midway point. The Lobos were
even more impressive from the field, shooting a blazing 62.5% behind a
season high performance from
Darren Prentice who hit 5/6 3PT shots,
four of which were in the final four minutes of the half to push the
Lobo lead at halftime to 13 points at 41-28.
After the break, the Lobos played tit for tat with TCU until they
outscored the Lobos by 8 during a 4:42 stretch. Even though the Lobos
held serve for much of the second half, the pace at which the Horned
Frogs were able to score on our defense was most disturbing. In less
than 13 minutes, they were able to duplicate their first half
point output. As it turned out, poor defense may have been our undoing
but consistently bad free throw shooting was our downfall...again - we
finished the game
52.4% from the line.
This game was tough to swallow, but it should also provide all
Lobo fans optimism for the rest of the year. We were able to bounce
back amazingly well from the SDSU game in which we were manhandled on
the boards. As perplexing as losing from the free throw line can be,
it is also something that can be more easily addressed than other types
of faults (say an offense that features the weave as a primary tool to
breakdown defenses). Alford has the team's full, undivided attention
and I expect them to continue to improve. What's the saying? "I'd
rather be slumping now than when it really matters." While every
conference game is important, the great thing about college basketball
is the best teams are determined by a tournament that favors those who
are hot at the right time. The Lobo program is growing and developing
with every game, and while growing pains are hard for impatient fans to
bear, all good things come to those who wait.