Emanuel Miller leads TCU over West Virginia in Morgantown for the first time, 93-81
For the first time in program history, TCU won a game at West Virginia Coliseum as the Horned Frogs defeated the Mountaineers 93-81 on Wednesday night.
TCU (20-10, 9-8) led wire-to-wire in Morgantown and at one point were up by 23 points. It was an encouraging outcome for TCU after what happened at BYU Saturday, when the Horned Frogs jumped out to a 17-point halftime lead before being outscored by 29 in the second half.
In Morgantown, the Horned Frogs led by 15 at halftime. But unlike against BYU, TCU found a way to finish despite spirited comeback attempts by the Mountaineers. West Virginia’s best opportunity to make it a game came with less than six minutes remaining after Josiah Harris cut TCU’s lead to 79-68.
With the pressure mounting, TCU’s Emanuel Miller responded when the Horned Frogs needed him most with a basket inside that stopped the run in its tracks. West Virginia (9-21, 4-13) never got within double digits the rest of the way.
The win should hopefully be enough to secure a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the Frogs. TCU’s recent two-game skid had it slipping onto the bubble and a loss to West Virginia would’ve been a bad loss on TCU’s resume.
The Horned Frogs close the regular season vs. the University of Central Florida at 4 p.m. Saturday. UCF (15-14) lost to No. 1 Houston, 67-59, Wednesday night.
Making his case
It’s about that time to start voting for awards and TCU forward Miller put together another performance that showed he’s worthy of being an All-Big 12 player. Miller was poised, efficient and aggressive against the Mountaineers. In the first half Miller paced TCU with 13 points as he made six of his eight attempts.
Including his clutch bucket with just over five minutes remaining, Miller delivered an emphatic nail in the coffin with a dunk that made it 91-77 with 2:01 left on the clock. Miller finished with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting. It was his eighth 20-point game of the season.
Micah Peavy and Jameer Nelson Jr. were two others that came up big down the stretch for TCU as Nelson hit all three of his 3s while Peavy added 16 points.
Another stellar start
Just like it did against BYU on Saturday, TCU came out of the gates fast on both ends of the court. The Horned Frogs blitzed the Mountaineers early with a 12-2 run that was sparked by five straight points by Nelson.
The Mountaineers would cut it to 23-14 midway through the first half, but the Horned Frogs responded quickly to extend the lead back to double digits. TCU went on a 7-0 run with four different players scoring. TCU wasn’t done establishing control as it began to get hot from the 3-point line. Nelson, Trevian Tennyson and Chuck O’Bannon all knocked down 3-pointers in a three-minute stretch to grow the Horned Frogs’ lead to 43-20.
TCU gave up a few baskets in the final two minutes, but still took a commanding 53-38 lead into halftime with three different players scoring in double figures while the defense forced nine turnovers.
