TCU's defense smothers Hawaii for third place in DHC

Dec. 25—With an efficient defense mechanism, the TCU basketball team picked apart Hawaii for a 65-51 victory in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.

With an efficient defense mechanism, the TCU basketball team picked apart Hawaii for a 65-51 victory in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.

Rebounding from Friday's semifinal loss to Nevada, the Horned Frogs claimed third place in the eight-team tournament in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

"We wanted to win the tournament, " said TCU coach Jamie Dixon, a former UH assistant, "but to get a road win, in Hawaii, (by ) double digits, that's got to count for something."

The Horned Frogs were without forwards Chuck O'Bannon Jr. and Essam Mostafa, both of whom suffered injuries in Thursday's opener. And they also had to overcome the sting of the Nevada game. "It's really hard to play in the third-place game when you're hoping to win this (tournament ), " Dixon said.

But the Horned Frogs used an aggressive defense to force 19 turnovers and limit the'Bows to 33.3 % shooting. "Our defense got it done, " Dixon said. "That's the defense I thought we'd be all year long. We haven't been. We're kind of a team in the making, which has been a little surprising to me, and it shouldn't have been. Our guards are all new. Not a good starting (spot ). We really got back to basics defensively."

Mixing a press with a switching man-to-man defense, the Horned Frogs were able to sabotage ball screens and force hurried passes with the illusion of double teams. "Their defense bothered us quite a bit, " UH coach Eran Ganot said.

And when the'Bows had open looks, their aim was not always true. They were 7-for-28 from behind the arc, and missed 15 of 25 shots in the paint.

"We probably had more paint touches, and didn't finish it as well, " Ganot said. "The finish around the rim was disappointing. And, unfortunately, that bled into the second half. In the second half, their defense ramped up, and we couldn't get into the cracks."

The'Bows shot 29.6 % after the intermission, including 4-for-17 on 3s.

UH point guard JoVon McClanahan suffered an injury in the first half. He managed to play 3 minutes, 39 seconds of the second half before being shut down for the rest of the game. After the game, Ganot said he did not know the specifics of McClanahan's ailment or if medical tests will be required. The'Bows do not practice today or Tuesday.

Without McClanahan, the'Bows appeared to incur an energy drain. "We missed his leadership, " Ganot said. "It can't be all on JoVon to bring the spirit and fight. Other guys have to do it. We became a pretty quiet team."

In Friday's loss to Georgia Tech, UH guard Noel Coleman was not feeling well, a condition that likely contributed to being held scoreless. But on Sunday, Coleman scored a game-high 19 points.

"I think he played with more energy, more passion, just being more aggressive, " point guard Juan Munoz said.

But the'Bows had difficulty in navigating the Horned Frogs' three-quarter-court press, aggressive tactics on middle ball screens, and traps on the wings. After cutting their deficit to 57-48 on Ryan Rapp's driving layup with 4 :59 to play, the'Bows did not make another field goal until Tom Beattie's 3 with 13 seconds left.

"We didn't play with a lot of passion and physicality and toughness during that stretch, " Ganot said. "That's probably the most disappointing. That was a step back, and we'll get back to work."

With 1 :04 left, the'Bows were penalized a two-shot technical after calling a timeout when they did not have any available. "We always communicate our timeout situation over and over again, " Ganot said. "We literally say, 'how many timeouts do we have' all the time. But maybe that needed to be clear. Let's put that on me."

FIFTH PLACE UMass 87, Old Dominion 65 Josh Cohen scored 28 points and the Minutemen (8-3 ) breezed past the Monarchs (4-8 ).

Cohen made 10 of 15 shots from the floor and 8-for-9 at the free-throw line. He had 14 points by halftime as UMass took a 41-28 lead into the locker room.

Matt Cross contributed 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting, seven rebounds and five assists.

Tyrone Williams totaled 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting to lead Old Dominion.

SEVENTH PLACE Temple 55, Portland 54 Steve Settle III scored 16 points and Hysier Miller made two free throws with five seconds left to rally the Owls (7-6 ) past the Pilots (6-9 ).

Settle hit two 3-pointers and added six rebounds for the Owls. Jordan Riley totaled 14 points, 12 rebounds and four steals.

Juan Sebastian Gorosito and Tyler Robertson both scored 16 to pace the Pilots. Robertson missed a 3-pointer on the final shot of the game.

TCU 65, HAWAII 51 HORNED FROGS (10-2 )

MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS Miller 32 3-11 1-4 7 2 1 8 Udeh Jr. 20 2-2 0-0 3 1 2 4 Peavy 31 4-9 0-1 7 0 0 9 Anderson III 21 3-6 0-0 1 0 2 6 Tennyson 34 4-7 0-0 5 2 1 10 Cork 20 4-6 1-1 8 1 2 9 Nelson Jr. 22 3-6 6-6 1 2 3 13 Coles 20 2-8 1-2 4 1 1 6 TEAM 1 TOTALS 200 25-55 9-14 37 9 12 65 RAINBOW WARRIORS (8-4 )

MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS McKoy 24 1-5 0-0 5 1 4 3 Da Silva 20 0-5 1-2 5 0 2 1 McClanahan 20 2-4 2-2 5 2 1 6 Coleman 33 6-12 5-0 4 0 2 19 Cotton 21 0-5 0-5 1 0 2 0 Munoz 24 3-10 0-0 1 2 1 9 Seck 19 2-2 0-0 1 0 2 4 Rouhliadeff 18 2-7 0-2 3 1 1 4 Beattie 7 1-3 0-0 0 1 0 3 Rapp 13 1-1 0-0 1 1 1 2 Williams 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Jacobs 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 TEAM 9 TOTALS 200 18-54 8-11 35 8 16 51 Key—min : minutes played ; fg-a : field goals made-attempted ; ft-a : free throws made-attempted ;

r : rebounds ; a : assists ; pf : personal fouls ; pts : total points.

Halftime—TCU 36, Hawaii 27 3-point goals—TCU 6-10 (Tennyson 2-3, Miller 1-1, Nelson Jr. 1-1, Coles 1-2, Peavy 1-3 ). Hawaii 7-28 (Munoz 3-8, Coleman 2-7, McKoy 1-2, Beattie 1-2, McClanahan 0-2, Rouhliadeff 0-3, Cotton 0-4 ). Steals—TCU 6 (Tennyson 2, Udeh Jr., Anderson III, Cork, Nelson Jr.). Hawaii 5 (McKoy 3, Coleman 2 ). Blocked shots—TCU 2 (Miller, Udeh Jr.). Hawaii 4 (Seck 2, McKoy, Da Silva ). Turnovers—TCU 14 (Miller 3, Cork 3, Peavy 2, Tennyson 2, Coles 2, Udeh Jr., TEAM ). Hawaii 19 (Coleman 5, Da Silva 4, McClanahan 3, TEAM 2, McKoy, Seck, Rouhliadeff, Beattie, Williams ). Technical fouls—none. Officials—Greg Nixon, Chris Beaver, Will Howard. A—n /a.