TCU:
The Horned Frogs are 4-1 and are coming off a 23pt win over a bad Alcorn St. squad. Their loss is to Michigan with no significant wins of note.
Starters:
6-3 guard Noah Reynolds (8.8pts, 4.8assists, 50% from 3)
6-3 guard Frankie Collins (9.2pts, 4 assists)
6-7 wing Trazarien White (11.4pts, 3.4 rebs)
6-8 forward Brendan Wenzel (10.8, 5.6 rebs, 45% from 3)
6-7 forward David Punch (5.6pts, 4.6rebounds, 1.4 blocks)
Bench: 6-2 guard Vasean Allete (10.6 pts)
6-11 center Ernest Udeh is their leading rebounder at a strong 9.3/game and shot blocker but hasn’t played in their last 2 games; don’t know his status.
TCU doesn’t possess a high powered offense but they have balanced scoring with 6 guys averaging 8pts or more. They excel at the defensive end, ranked 25th on Torvik in adjusted defense. They are holding teams to 28% from 3 and generating a lot of turnovers.
The Broncos played decent vs. Stanford, held the lead most of the game but missed opportunities to separate from the Cardinal and once again coughed up a lead late and failed to execute on key offensive possessions down the stretch.
Lots of questions: Can the Broncos bring the toughness that will be needed vs. TCU and execute more consistently on offense with better player and ball movement and less 1on1 play? Will we see more time for Oboye, Bryan and Mahi and less time for several who are underperforming?
Prediction: Broncos fall 75-72 in another close game.
Reminder on the early, 1pm start. Hopefully you can find the time amongst Thanksgiving festivities to enjoy a little Bronco basketball. If not, that’s OK to.
Some additional nuggets on the Horned Frogs…
TCU’s game preview mentions that Udeh has missed the last two games but says nothing about his status for this game. He’s their leading rebounder by far and provides good size at the 5, in his absence the Horned Frogs have struggled on the boards including being outrebounded by a bad Alcorn St. squad by a few rebounds despite winning the game in a blow out. If Udeh doesn’t play, the Broncos should dominate on the glass at both ends of the floor.
And related to Udeh…he’s the only experienced, returning scholarship player for TCU, everyone else are transfers (mostly) plus freshmen playing for the first time.
And finally, given the quick turn around, a heads up on Friday game times: the loser plays at 11am vs. the loser of Colorado St. vs. Washington; the winners play at 1:30pm All on truTV or MAX.
At this point, just shake it all off and play as loose as possible. My expectations of the season have evaporated, so I just want to see them move the ball and look like there’s still confidence in them. I’ve been watching Podz work through his sophomore slump on the Warriors. When he gets in his head, more bad tends to follow; when he celebrates a good play and loosens a bit, better stuff tends to happen. The Broncos should be the same.
Sendek so far is 1-0 in blowing out TCU in Thanksgiving tournaments. Why not 2-0?
79-64 Broncos. Stewart hits a blistering 7-9 from three.
Nice production value over on True TV/TNT/HBO Max. If they’re desperate for streaming content, I certainly wouldn’t mind more SCU games on their platform.
Sloppy last couple of minutes but a pretty dang good half, especially with quiet Bal and effectively no Tilly.
Also Oboye is raw but really impressive at rim protection. I was happy to take a flyer on him with his size but assumed he’d be another huge SCU center that lacked strength and coordination. I may be wrong. He really alters shots out there.
Mahi is impressive, but isn’t the best at looking to pass. I’d love for him to spot the open man a bit more. He has the strength to finish a lot of the time but is leaving some points at the rim when he drives straight into three defenders under the hoop.
Finishing the halves hasn’t been a strong suit for the team so far this year. Broncos need to play better in 2nd half if they want to win. Can’t expect TCU to miss all their 3’s in this half
Sure was! But the insufferable commentator here for MAX is sweating Udeh in a bad way! I actually had to mute the game because I cannot deal with her ongoing praise. Wondering if this is going to be one of those nights like Reynard who was given free reign too.
That dunk Udeh had clearly started with an over the back foul that resulted in CLAMPING DOWN Cams right arm and going up. 100% a foul.
Ensminger can do so many of the little things well. If he could just become a scoring threat, even a marginal one, he could play 28+ min and finally be the floor leader the team needs.