NCAAB: TCU looks to continue fast start, hosts Southern Miss

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Coach Jamie Dixon had to reach out to fill his TCU roster, but the early returns look good.

The Horned Frogs’ coach since 2016, Dixon will send out his squad Tuesday for its second contest, a nonconference matchup against visiting Southern Mississippi.

In its season opener Thursday night, TCU received a superb performance from Mike Miles Jr. — one of four returning players — as the club drubbed visiting McNeese State 77-61.

Miles scored 22 points and made all but one of his 12 free throws over 30 minutes.

After suffering through his first losing season at SMU (12-14, 5-11 Big 12), the coach brought in eight transfers.

Texas A&M transfer Emanuel Miller also had a big night, scoring 12 points and grabbing 13 rebounds for his ninth career double-double.

Former Texas Tech Red Raider Micah Peavy contributed by snaring 10 boards.

The Horned Frogs were dominant on the glass, outrebounding the Cowboys 57-34.

Dixon, who spent 13 seasons as the University of Pittsburgh’s head coach, moved to 19-0 in season openers but noted that outside of Miles, the offense sputtered.

“I thought in the second half when we got it up to 22 or 24, he made some really good passes and that got us open,” said Dixon, who is three wins away from becoming the fifth TCU coach with 100 victories.

“But it didn’t spread among the whole team — (Miles) had five assists and we only had (15). That’s not how we’ve been playing.”

On Friday, Southern Miss trailed by six at halftime to Louisiana but succumbed in a bad second half, losing 66-45 to the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Isaih Moore poured in a game-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, but the home side’s long-range shooting was poor — the Golden Eagles made just 2 for 19 (10.5 percent) from 3-point range — and committed 25 turnovers to Louisiana’s 19.

“That was a hard-fought game and I’m disappointed for our guys that it got away like that,” said USM head coach Jay Ladner. “I thought our defensive effort was outstanding. We held them to 32.8 percent and that’s a winning defensive effort.

“We forced some turnovers, but we turned it over and they scored 20 points to our six off turnovers.”

The Golden Eagles and TCU will be facing each other for the first time since 2005, having split their previous six meetings.

–Field Level Media

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