Texas men's basketball preview, prediction: Longhorns face TCU in possible end of long rivalry
The rocky Big 12 road doesn’t get any smoother Saturday, when Texas (14-7, 3-5 Big 12) faces its fifth consecutive team ranked in The Associated Press’ poll with a visit to No. 25 TCU (16-5, 5-3) at 1 p.m. (ESPN2, 1300).
Here's what you need to know about the matchup:
Dylan Disu: Watching triple D
Disu, a 6-foot-9 forward from Hendrickson, is on pace to break a Texas school record not usually held by a frontcourt player. Since returning from offseason foot surgery 12 games ago, Disu has made 19 of 36 3-pointers while averaging 15.3 points. If he can maintain that pace of 52.8% shooting from long distance, he’ll shatter the single-season record of 42.3% 3-point shooting set by guard A.J. Abrams in the 2006-07 season.
More: Tyrese Hunter's lack of points doesn't concern Texas basketball coach Rodney Terry
Long rivalry coming to an end?
Could this be the end of a century-long rivalry that stretched from the age of the telegraph to the iPhone 15 Pro? TCU and Texas first faced off in 1915, when the Longhorns pummeled TCU in Austin 53-27. Texas still leads the series 120-70, but this will be the last meeting as regular-season conference foes since the Horned Frogs won’t visit Austin in the uneven 18-game Big 12 schedule this season. Texas has won nine of the past 11 meetings between the teams, including an NIT semifinal in New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2019. The rowdy Frogs support would love nothing more than to send Texas off to the SEC next season with a loss — and a purple parade of Horns Down.
More: Gulp! Texas men's basketball is at risk of missing the NCAA Tournament | Bohls
Trevian Tennyson, Emanuel Miller power Frogs
Based on how the first half of the Big 12 season has unfolded, the Frogs offer a tough matchup for Texas. TCU ranks second in conference play in 3-point shooting at 39.2%, with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi transfer Trevian Tennyson leading the Big 12 from long distance at 46.4%. That doesn’t bode well for a Texas team that still ranks last in the Big 12 in 3-point defense at 34.2%, which is 210th out 362 teams nationally.
Under head coach Jamie Dixon, the Frogs also lead the nation in fast-break points with 21.2 a game and will test a suspect Texas transition defense. In addition, fifth-year forward Emanuel Miller earned a third 2023-24 Big 12 player of the week award Monday and leads the team with 16.5 points a game.
“Jamie has a great ballclub,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “They’re one of the older teams in college basketball and maybe the fastest team in college basketball.”
Texas vs. TCU prediction
TCU. The Frogs are 10-1 at home this season and seem to be peaking as the first half of Big 12 play winds down. Defensive rebounding and transition defense will key any upset hopes for Texas, which is a 5½-point underdog.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas men's basketball preview, prediction: Longhorns face host TCU
