TCU Takes Down Virginia in Paradise Jam Opener
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ST. THOMAS, U.S.V.I.—TCU gained some early-season momentum and an impressive victory Friday in the opening round of the 12th annual Paradise Jam tournament, defeating Virginia, 57-55, at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports Fitness Center.
With the win, TCU advances to Sunday’s tournament semifinals, where it will play Norfolk State on 7 p.m. AST (5 p.m. CST). The Spartans were a 61-56 winner over Drexel earlier Friday. Both of Sunday’s semifinal contests will be televised live nationally by FSN.
The victory moved TCU to 3-0 for the first time in head coach Jim Christian’s tenure and the first time overall since the 2007-08 season. The Frogs also earned their first win over an ACC opponent since a 71-70 victory over Florida State on Nov. 28, 2004 in the Corpus Christi Classic. Virginiaentered the tournament 2-0 and was voted to finish fourth in the ACC this season in the league’s annual preseason poll.
Senior guard Hank Thorns led the Frogs with a game-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and added four assists. Eleven of Thorns’ scoring total came in the second half, including seven in the final 4:27. Also reaching double figures were senior guard J.R. Cadot, who had 12 points, and junior forward Garlon Green, who scored 10 despite sitting for much of the game infoul trouble. Cadot was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field in addition to hitting all four of his free throws.
Junior guard Nate Butler went scoreless but did pull down a team-high
eight rebounds to lead the Frogs to a 30-28 advantage on the glass. Freshman guard Kyan Anderson produced six points, while senior forward Craig Williams scored for in his return to his home in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The game was tied, 41-41, with six minutes to play before the Frogs made their run at snatching the victory. Following a layup by Green, Thorns took over the contest. He scored seven straight TCU points while twice beating the shot clock in the final ticks, including once on a long 3-pointer that gave the Frogs a 48-41 lead with only 2:47 remaining. After the Cavaliers were able to pull to within 48-44, Thorns once again scored on a layup to keep the Frogs up by two possessions.
While Thorns was showing why he was a preseason All-Mountain West selection, another TCU senior provided the game’s biggest play in the contest’s waning seconds. With TCU leading by three points and under 20 seconds remaining, Anderson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw opportunity, but Cadot was there to grab the board, lay the ball in and draw the foul. Cadot’s free throw put the Frogs back up by five, 57-52.
Virginia made one last run, as guard Joe Harris drilled a 3-pointer with seven seconds left to pull his squad to within two points. The Frogs tempted disaster by turning the ball over on the in-bounds play, but Harris missed one last desperation trey for the win prior to a scramble for the ball as the clock expired.
The Frogs had another solid defensive night, forcing turnovers and taking advantage of their opponent’s mistakes. The Cavaliers totaled 14 turnovers in the first half against TCU’s aggressive defense, which led to a 17-5 scoring advantage in the period. For the game, the Cavs shot only 37.5 percent from the field compared to TCU’s rate of 44.2 percent.
The Frogs grabbed a 29-23 lead at the half after limiting Virginia to only four first-half field goals, each of which came from 3-point range. The Cavaliers missed all eight of their shots from inside the arc.
TCU found itself trailing midway through the half by five points, 12-7, when it turned defense into offense. Thefts on two out of three possessions ended in fastbreak layups, the first by Cadot and the second byAnderson, who stole the ball himself and raced down court for the bucket.
The Frogs then went to work on the offensive end with a 14-0 run that led to a 28-16 lead. Junior forward Connell Crossland hit a big 3-pointer for the Frogs, followed by a layup from Cadot. Green then drilledtreys on back-to-back possessions before an Anderson layup put TCU up 12 points.
Virginia guard Sammy Zeglinski recorded the second of his two 3-pointers with only 25 seconds remaining in the half to cut the Frog lead to six points at the break.
