Micah Peavy scored a career-high 26 points before Jameer Nelson Jr. drained a game-winning 3-pointer in an emphatic 75-72 victory over Kansas State on Saturday.
Peavy had a game to remember. Shooting an efficient 8-16 (50%) from the floor and 2-3 (66.6%) from beyond the arc, he led the Frogs in points (26), rebounds (9), blocks (3), and steals (3). He was the catalyst for a TCU squad that had previously lost two of its last three games.
The TCU guard posted 9 points heading into halftime but exploded for 17 in the second half of regulation, including 11 during a 20-2 run for TCU.
While Peavy generated a tremendous performance, Nelson nailed a game-winning 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining. Leaving too little time for the Wildcats, Nelson’s heavily contested bucket was the difference-maker in Manhattan. But the road to Saturday’s victory started off underwhelming.
TCU jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead but fell hard when the Wildcats surged on a 14-1 run to take a 14-4 lead with 12:05 left in the first half. But the Frogs answered back, scoring the next 11 points to retake the lead 15-14.
Just as the Frogs regained control, Kansas State found a spark in the final minutes of the half to take a 28-24 lead at the break.
In the second half of regulation, the Frogs exploded for 51 points, the most TCU has scored in a half since posting 64 in the second half against Old Dominion on Dec. 21.
The key?
Second-chance points.
The Frogs had 20 of them. Out-rebounding the Wildcats on the offensive glass 14-7, TCU created numerous opportunities to take advantage and score. Even when it seems not in their favor, this Frogs team takes pride in their rebounding abilities.
As the Frogs improve to 15-10 (5-7 in the Big 12), Jamie Dixon now passes Billy Tubbs for second on the school’s all-time wins list (157).
TCU will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Lubbock to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders at 8:00 pm.
More must-reads: