FORT WORTH – With the decision on whether they would go to New York City for the NIT semifinals in their hands – not, say, a committee – TCU’s Horned Frogs reacted as a team hell-bent on not being defined by the disappointment that has dogged them.
After a not-so-great first half, TCU’s final 20 minutes in a 71-58 quarterfinals victory against Creighton on Tuesday was as good a display of basketball as the Frogs have put on all season.
It was a championship demonstration. It was also an exhibition in character.
And it was enough, as we say in these parts, to hallelujah the county.
The Frogs ran off the first 16 points of the second half, erased a rebounding gap and got after it defensively in shutting the front door of Schollmaier Arena on the Bluejays.
TCU earned a second trip in three years to Madison Square Garden for the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament, no small achievement considering the woe confronted over the season could fit in binding resembling something the size of War and Peace.
Injuries and teammates quitting on them – four players transferred during the Christmas break — left seven scholarship players to face down adversity in the Big 12 and the NCAA Tournament letdown 10 days ago, but quitting never was an option.
“We’ve been through a lot this year, but seven guys keep battling and keep practicing,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “It’s just fun to see. I’m really excited for them.
“These have been the guys who have been out there from June until now. They’ve been working, working, working. What they’ve done for seven guys in the toughest league in the country is really … I told them a couple of days ago, how proud I am of what they’ve done. I told them after that last practice that I was proud of how they practiced, and they were ready.”
In New York, the Frogs will play on April 2 against the winner of the quarterfinals game on Wednesday between Texas and Colorado.
TCU heads to New York on Sunday playing its best basketball of the season having won three straight games and five of its last six.
TCU won the NIT in 2017, Dixon’s first season.
Seniors Alex Robinson and JD Miller as well as junior Desmond Bane were on that team. They are big reason why the Frogs are going back.
So is Kouat Noi, who was not on that team.
Noi was a combined 8 for 33 shooting in his last three games, but he uncovered his rhythm against Creighton, and the find was something akin to buried treasure.
In a team-high 38 minutes, Noi was hotter than the door hinges of hell, raining down a game-high 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, including 6 for 12 from the NIT’s extended 3-point line of 22 feet and 1 3/4 inches.
Noi had nine points in TCU’s 16-0 flash flood after halftime, bookending the decisive 4-minute run that made a three-point deficit go poof with two 3-pointers. He also had two rebounds.
“The last few games I wasn’t really shooting the way I was used to,” Noi said. “Today, I kept my mindset and knocked down some shots.”
New York, he added, is a bucket list item, which he will scratch off at 21 years old.
“We’ve been happy with how he is playing,” Dixon said. “He played very well the last game. He just didn’t make shots. He rebounded very well … he’s been going to the glass. Obviously, we’d like him to make more shots and tonight he did. I thought he’s been playing pretty good defensively.
“Even if he’s missing shots, you’ve got to guard him. That’s what he does … he spaces the floor.”
New York was booked, though, on the defensive end, likely the best defensive half of the season, Robinson estimated.
The Frogs held Creighton to 23.5 percent shooting in the second half.
Dixon wanted to see a combined 10 rebounds out of Robinson, Kendric Davis and RJ Nembhard. The 6-foot-2 Robinson got 11 by himself. He also had 12 points for the double-double.
Miller turned in a good report card, 15 points and five rebounds.
It was the result of the effort of a team that still can’t wait to get to practice, Dixon said.
“The first four minutes of the second half were important for us to make sure we got on a run early and make them figure out a way to stop us. I think we did that,” Robinson said. “We came out real hot, we played great defense throughout the whole second half.
“Defensively that might have been one of greatest halves we’ve had all year. It shows how locked in we are, and the message we’re trying to send at the same time.”
The message he was talking about was the NCAA Tournament committee that left the Frogs at the altar.
There was another, too.
This team won’t be remembered for the jilting, but rather the grit.