Texas Longhorns Rebound Their Way to Victory Over TCU Horned Frogs

Jonathan Holmes recorded a double-double with 20 points and 16 rebounds as the Texas Longhorns avoided TCU‘s upset bid by winning in Fort Worth, 59-54. Cameron Ridley nearly matched his frontcourt mate’s feat scoring 12 points to go along with nine boards. The Longhorns have now won seven-straight Big 12 games, and sit just a game back of the conference-leading Kansas Jayhawks. Amric Fields was TCU’s leading contributor as he tallied 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Horned Frogs. TCU fell to 9-12 overall and 0-9 in the Big 12 as Trent Johnson continues to try and build a winning basketball program in the school’s second full year in the Big 12 Conference.

The story of tonight’s game was rebounding. Texas out-rebounded TCU 56-25. Yes, you read that right, 56-25. How a team had a +31 margin on the glass and only won by five points is certainly a mystery to me, but hey, a win’s a win. The good teams are the ones that find ways to win ugly and that’s exactly what Texas did tonight in Fort Worth. Make no mistake about it, this game was ugly. The two teams shot a combined 31.8 percent from the floor in shooting 35-of-110. Yuck.

TCU deserves credit for even keeping this game close. They played hard and gave themselves a chance to win late in the game, but down the stretch, it seemed as if Holmes, Ridley, Connor Lammert and Prince Ibeh snatched every loose ball and offensive rebound. And that is what proved to be the difference.

For Rick Barnes, this game probably offered a bit of disappointment, especially after the way his team manhandled Kansas on Saturday. With that said, winning on the road in conference play is never an easy task. Wins are wins no matter how you get them, and for Barnes and the youthful Longhorns, the future continues to look bright. With the interior depth and big bodies Texas can throw at their opponents, I’m not too sure anyone wants to see a matchup with the Longhorns come Selection Sunday.

Matthew Sturgeon is a College Basketball Columnist for www.RantSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter @OfficialSturg27