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.