FORT WORTH, Texas – No. 15/18 TCU scored 12 of the first 14 points to set the tone, hit 50% of its shots from 3-point range and cruised to a 95-60 win over ULM Thursday night at Schollmaier Arena.
The Horned Frogs (3-1 overall) were coming off a stunning 64-63 loss to Northwestern State on Monday in which TCU hit just 2-of-21 (9.5%) from 3-point range. The Frogs knocked down 10-of-20 3-point attempts on Thursday after making just 14 3-pointers over their first three games combined. TCU hit 53.1% (34-of-64) from the floor overall.
Emanuel Miller led four Horned Frogs in double figures with 16 points. Jakobe Coles had 15 points, Micah Peavy added 12 and Chuck O'Bannon had 11, all in the first half.
"We saw the real 15th-ranked team in the country in the first half," ULM head coach
Keith Richard said. "That's exactly what we saw. We told the team that they would come out really locked in because of the loss the other night. They did just that.
"They were really fast on the break. They were really long inside defending. They hit their 3-point shots. They were shooting 19% from 3 coming in, and they go 7-for-11 in the first half. You could see it in the starting lineups. They were really amped up. We were ready, but we ran into a team that people think real highly of in the country in the first 15 to 20 minutes."
ULM shot just 30.3% (20-of-66) from the field and 28.6% (6-of-21) from 3-point range while getting outrebounded, 46-32. Tyreke Locure led ULM with 14 points.
"He scores in a variety of ways, and he did a little bit of that tonight," Richard said. "That was one of the better defenses we played against. (Texas) A&M was good, great defense. This one was just as good, if not better. They had a lot of length inside, more so than A&M. They tipped and blocked shots and they're running out on us. I think we learned a valuable lesson about playing these caliber of people. We need to be a little more patient on offense. And we did a little better in the second half in that respect."
TCU's Shahada Wells sunk the opening shot of the game, a 3-pointer, in what was an ominous sign for ULM. Wells hit another trey moments later to expand the lead back to 10, 15-5, with 15:19 left in the first half.
ULM pulled within seven, 15-8, on a three-point play by Jamari Blackmon, but it's as close as the Warhawks would get to the red-hot Horned Frogs. Jakobe Coles and Rondel Walker followed with back-to-back treys to stretch the lead back to 13, 21-8. A 6-0 spurt with layups by Peavy, PJ Haggerty and Coles extended the lead to 20, 34-14, at the 9:05 mark of the first half.
After a triple by Blackmon for ULM, TCU went on a 10-0 run, capped on O'Bannon's 3-pointer, to push the TCU lead to 27, 44-17, with 4:41 to go before halftime. The Frogs took a 27-point lead to the locker room, up 53-26 at halftime.
ULM and TCU played a tighter second half, with the Frogs building as much as a 38-point lead, 88-50, with 4:48 remaining. The Frogs went on to the 95-60 win.
TCU outrebounded ULM, 46-32, but the Warhawks limited TCU in second-chance points, as ULM outscored the Frogs 16-12 in second-chance opportunities.
"We're trying to learn how to play with this bunch of new guys," Richard said. "In the second half, they outscored us 42-34. That's just eight points. We tried at halftime to start passing the ball around more on the offense side to side. It wasn't perfect. But I think it did show the kids that maybe if we do that, that really helps us."
ULM returns to the court at 6 p.m. Monday at Louisiana Tech.
