TCU Falls to Ole Miss in Paradise Jam Finale
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ST. THOMAS, U.S.V.I.—TCU dropped the third-place game of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam to Ole Miss on Monday evening, 80-69, at the UVI Sports Fitness Center. Senior guard J.R. Cadot and sophomore forward Amric Fields led TCU with 18 points each.
The loss dropped TCU’s season record to 3-2, while Ole Miss improved to 4-1.
In a game that featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes through the opening 30 minutes, Ole Miss pulled away from the Horned Frogs midway through the second half. The Rebels attacked the middle of TCU’s defense, relying almost exclusively on layup attempts that resulted in either baskets or free throws. Ole Miss was 18-of-28 at the line for the game and 13-of-18 following intermission as the Frogs put the squad in the bonus early in the half. The squad also outscored TCU by a 44-30 margin in the paint.
Guard Nick Williams hit a big 3-pointer that pushed the Rebel lead to 11 points, 72-61, with 1:56 remaining and, despite TCU cutting the spread to six in the final minutes, Ole Miss made its free-throws late to ice the contest.
Cadot posted his fourth career double-double, and only the second for the Frogs this season, after pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds to go with his 18 points. Five of his boards came on the offensive end, while he made 7-of-10 field-goal attempts. Cadot’s point total fell just one shy of his career high of 19, set in last year’s home win over Chicago State, while his rebound figure also was one short of a career best.
Fields nearly recorded his second-career 20-point gamewith 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while he added a pair of steals. Also reaching double figures for the Frogs were senior guard Hank Thorns with 12points and junior forward Adrick McKinney with 10 points. Thorns, who addedfive rebounds and five assists, was scoreless at the half before totaling TCU’s first 10 points of the second period. McKinney went 6-of-7 at the charity stripe.
TCU experienced an improved shooting performance after struggling with its shot through Sunday night’s loss to Norfolk State, hitting at a 42.4 percent clip, but the Rebels’ inside game proved to be too much for the Frogs to handle. Ole Miss made an even 60 percent of its field-goal attempts and also was opportunistic, turning 19 TCU turnovers into 26 points.
Ole Miss forward Murphy Halloway proved to be a handful for TCU throughout the evening, finishing with a game-high 20 points for the Rebels on 9-of-13 shooting. Guard Jarvis Summers (14 points), Williams (12 points), forward Terrance Henry (11 points) and guard Dundrecous Nelson (11points) also contributed to a balanced Rebel scoring effort. Nelson directed the show with a game-high six assists.
The Rebels opened the contest with the hot hand, scoring the game’s first eight points, but TCU quickly found its footing. The Frogs scored 13 of the game’s next 15 points to gain a three-point advantage just under eight minutes into the contest. Two straight Ole Miss layups in the final two minutes of the opening half gave the squad a four-point edge, but Cadotscored at the buzzer on a fastbreak layup thanks to a nice feed from Thorns to send TCU into the locker room trailing by only two, 35-33.
TCU next heads home to Fort Worth for the Thanksgivingholiday before returning to the road Nov. 26 at Houston. Tip-off from the Cougars’ Hofheinz Pavilion is scheduled for 7 p.m.
