Nelson, Coles lead TCU to 33-point blowout win over Texas-Rio Grande Valley

It wasn’t always the prettiest display of basketball, but TCU dispatched another overmatched opponent with a 33-point win over University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

The Horned Frogs (3-0) got off to a slow start again with the Vaqueros actually leading for chunks of the first 10 minutes of the game, but TCU’s defense and the play of Jameer Nelson Jr. was enough to steer TCU to the 88-55 victory.

“I liked how we played better in the second half, we handled halftime well,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “I told them we’re going to play a great second half and I thought we did better and played better.”

Nelson was one of five double-digit scorers for TCU with 15 points and he helped break the game open with his all-around play. He dished out assists, was a factor on the glass and showed why the Horned Frogs believe he can replace Mike Miles Jr. with high level shot-making.

From the 3:07 mark in the first half to the 17:38 minute mark of the second, Nelson scored or assisted on five of the Horned Frogs’ six baskets. During that run the lead grew from 28-19 to 43-28. The Horned Frogs hit eight of their first nine shots to start the second half to gain a 61-38 lead that wouldn’t be challenged the rest of the way.

JaKobe Coles led TCU with 16 points, including two 3-pointers.

Nelson rises up

With the rest of the team struggling to find their offense, Nelson did what all good point guards do; he took his game to another level to help break the game open. In the final minute of the first half the Vaqueros were still only down two possessions until Nelson got going.

After an errant shot, Nelson soared for a rebound and quickly dished out an assist on the fast break. Then on the next offensive possession Nelson powered through the lane and rose up over a much larger UTRGV defender for a floater. He made the basket while being fouled and converted the and-1 to give TCU a 33-22 lead.

“I feel like going from defense to offense really quick, through a rebound or steal is keeping the defense on its heels,” Nelson said. “I feel like I do a good job and Avery (Anderson) does a good job of getting in the gaps and getting steals. It’s going to be there every game.”

In the second half Nelson kept coming at the UTRGV defense as he hit a pair of step-back jumpers over his matchups. His second jump shot made it 43-28 as TCU began to create more separation with the Vaqueros. Nelson also had four assists and a pair of steals.

Daggers from distance

Remember how last year’s TCU team struggled with 3-point shooting? The Horned Frogs don’t have that issue this season as TCU relied upon a second half 3-point barrage to pull away from the Vaqueros. Emanuel Miller, who went scoreless in the first half, hit TCU’s first basket of the half with a corner 3-pointer.

Then Coles, Micah Peavy and Miller hit three straight 3s to make it 51-32. The ball movement and spacing on the floor was the key in creating so many quality looks. It was a much different looking offense than the one from the first half.

Miller added another 3-pointer with less than 10 minutes to go to essentially put the game away at 68-40. The three 3s were a career-high for the preseason All-Big 12 forward. Miller finished with 11 points while Peavy added 10.

“Guys are getting in the gym and shooting,” Coles said. “I think guys did last year, but it’s more purposeful. We do a lot of team shooting, a lot of competitive shooting in the summer and it’s just the work that we put in over the summer. We all wanted to get better at shooting.”

Another sluggish start

The first half was a struggle to watch as the Horned Frogs’ offense was stuck in neutral because of turnovers. TCU turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, which allowed the Vaqueros took stick around.

How bad did things look initially? In the first eight minutes of TCU had more turnovers (6) than field goals (3) and trailed UTRGV 11-9. Things began to change once the Horned Frogs were able to get into their transition offense. With the game tied at 16, TCU began to get on a run.

Nelson found Xavier Cork for an alley-oop and then Nelson scored his own fast-break bucket to give TCU a 22-16 lead with 6:48 remaining in the half. Over the next three minutes TCU began to break the game open as the lead grew to 28-19 after Nelson found Coles cutting for a baseline floater.

By the time the halftime buzzer sounded the Horned Frogs had seized control with a 33-22 lead. TCU’s defense, which held UTRGV to 33% in the first half, allowed the offense to time to shake off an ugly start.