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Lifelong Frog
Preview: vs. Santa Clara - TCU Athletics
FORT WORTH – TCU (4-1) will face Santa Clara (2-4) in the opening round of the Acrisure Invitational on Thursday at 3 p.m. at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif.
GoFrogs: TCU vs. Santa Clara MBB Preview
FORT WORTH – TCU (4-1) will face Santa Clara (2-4) in the opening round of the Acrisure Invitational on Thursday at 3 p.m. at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif. All games of the invitational can be seen on truTV and Max.
NOTES
- It will be TCU's first game on Thanksgiving since a 73-70 win over Alaska Anchorage on Nov. 28, 2013, part of the Great Alaska Shootout.
- It is TCU's first games in California since the 2021-22 season when the Frogs went 1-1 in San Juan Capistrano at the SoCal Challenge and then 1-1 at NCAA Tournament in San Diego. TCU is 3-2 in California under Jamie Dixon.
- Under Dixon, TCU is 31-17 in neutral site games.
- Under Dixon, the Frogs have won five of their seven mid-season tournaments and are 15-3 in those games.
- The Frogs are 55-7 in the month of November since the 2014-15 season and 46-5 in November under Dixon.
- Dixon is eight wins away from 500 as a head coach. His 164 wins at TCU rank second all-time.
- Ernest Udeh Jr., who didn't play last two games due to injury, is TCU's only returning scholarship player.
- Udeh is averaging 8.0 points and 9.3 rebounds, which ranks fourth in the Big 12.
- TCU's newcomers includes six transfers and four freshmen. Two additional players are redshirt freshmen.
- The Frogs' backcourt of Frankie Collins and Noah Reynolds have a combined 44 assists to 16 turnovers.
- Reynolds is averaging 11.3 points and a team-best 4.5 assists per game, the 13th-best in the Big 12.
- Collins is averaging 9.2 points and 4.8 assists per game.
- Vasean Allette has come off the bench to average 10.6 points per game.
- Brendan Wenzel's 45.2 percent shooting from 3-point range ranks eighth in the Big 12.
- Wenzel has made at least one 3-pointer in every game this season.
- TCU is getting production from two of its top ranked recruits. Micah Robinson is averaging 6.2 points and David Punch is at 5.6 points and 4.6 rebounds. Both were in the ESPN Top 100 in high school
- Trazarien White arrived at TCU with over 1,000 career points. Collins (86 away) and Reynolds (74 away) are closing in on 1,000 for their careers.
- TCU ranks second in the Big 12 and 33rd nationally in fastbreak points. TCU led the nation the last two seasons.
- TCU ranks fifth in the Big 12 and 26th nationally in scoring defense at 61.0 points per game allowed.
- TCU ranks fifth in the Big 12 and 28th nationally in turnover margin at 5.4.
- Last season, TCU finished the season in the NCAA Tournament for a program-best, third-straight season.
- Dixon is one of just nine active head coaches who have made at least 15 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
- Only 22 active D1 coaches have more wins than Dixon.
- TCU has 17 seasons of 20 or more wins in its history and six have come in the last eight seasons.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
- Santa Clara is 2-4 on the season following a 71-69 loss to Stanford on Saturday.
- The Broncos are led by Adama Bal and his 14.5 points per game. Christoph Tilly is averaging 13.3 points and 4.3 rebounds, while shooting 63.3 percent from the field.
- Santa Clara has wins this season over Saint Louis and UC Riverside.
SERIES HISTORY
- Santa Clara leads the series, 2-0.
- The last meeting also came at a neutral site in Southern California. The Broncos defeated the Frogs, 85-66 on Nov. 22, 2021 in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. in the first round of the SoCal Challenge.
LAST TIME OUT
- Freshman David Punch had 10 points, seven rebounds and five blocks off the bench to help TCU defeat Alcorn State, 71-48, on Nov. 19 in Schollmaier Arena.
- The Frogs made 11 3-pointers, led by three from Trazarien White, who finished with a game-high 14 points.
UP NEXT
- The winners of TCU and Santa Clara will play the winner of Colorado State and Washington on Friday 3:30 p.m. CT. The losers of both games will be at 1:00 p.m. CT. All games will be on truTV and Max.
