Late foul costs TCU

TCU’s tournament hopes were put on life support Saturday due to foul called with 4.5 seconds left.

West Virginia’s Daxter Miles Jr. drove towards TCU guard Jaylen Fisher, but there was no apparent contact. A foul was called, Miles made the first free throw and No. 12 West Virginia survived TCU 61-60.

“He made a play. I was there. The official made the call,” Fisher said. “I felt I had him straight up, but it went their way.”

TCU coach Jamie Dixon doesn’t want to put all the blame on that call.

“People make mistakes. I forgot to go to the singing of the alma mater after the game, we all made mistakes,” Dixon said. “It will be talked about a lot, but you have to go by the call. We did a good job defending, but we didn’t get the call. That will be talked about nationally I’m sure.”

Dixon forgot to go sing the alma mater because he left the court the same time the officials did. This loss is especially painful given the Frogs are squarely on the bubble and listed as the 68th team in the 68-team tournament by ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi.

“Yeah. A loss is hard whenever it is,” Dixon said. “Maybe it’s harder for these guys. Every loss should hurt as much as the loss. We’ve got to develop and instill that in our guys.”

TCU did have a shot at the win, but Desmond Bane’s three-pointer at the last second clanged off the rim.

“We got a good shot from a good shooter,” Dixon said of the final play.

West Virginia is known for their press defense and that was on display today as TCU was forced into 21 turnovers.

“It was a close game back and forth, but we didn’t get it done. It’s on us,” Dixon said. “We can’t make excuses. We turned the ball over 21 times.”

TCU outrebounded West Virginia 21-12 in the first half, but the second half the Mountaineers pulled down 14 offensive boards and dominated the glass 24-17 in the second half.

“We have to develop physically. They pushed us around and we let them do that,” “We can’t let them push us around.”

Fisher led all players with 18 points and added four assists, two steals and two blocks. Kenrich Williams had another double-double with 10 points and rebounds to go with two steals and two assists. Vladimir Brodziansky finished with 11 points and four blocks, all in the second half in just 25 minutes.

JD Miller didn’t play in this game due to a groin injury. Dixon said he practiced Friday, but woke up Saturday morning and could hardly walk. He hopes to play when TCU (17-12, 6-10 in the Big 12) looks to keep its tournament dreams alive against Kansas State (17-11, 6-9) at 8 p.m. Wednesday.