Dec. 22, 2007
Final Stats
Juniors Kevin Langford (Fort Worth, Texas/North Crowley H.S.) and Henry Salter (Gulfport, Miss./Mississippi Gulf Coast College) combined for 55 points en route to leading the TCU men's basketball program to a 92-80 victory over Prairie View A&M on Saturday (Dec. 22) at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
Langford finished with a career-high 31 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field, including 10-of-15 from the charity stripe. He also added six rebounds and one assist in 35 minutes of action. The Fort Worth native became the first player to score 30-plus points in a game since Junior Blunt on March 6, 2002 against Louisville.
Salter connected on a career-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go along with 6-of-10 from behind the three-point line - all six three-pointers came in the second half of action. The TCU junior collected six rebounds, two assists and one steal in 29 minutes of action for the Frogs.
Prairie View A&M proved to be a valuable competitor for the Frogs as the Panthers came right out of the gates to take an 8-7 lead on the Frogs after Derek Johnson connected on jumper from the baseline.
After a three-pointer by Brent Hackett (Fort Worth, Texas/Southwest H.S.) to give the Frogs the 10-8 advantage, the Purple and White never relinquished control of the scoreboard despite the best efforts of the Panthers. Hackett finished with 11 points in the game on 5-of-8 shooting from the field to go along with three assists and two steals in 27 minutes of action.
The Frogs were able to build their first double-digit lead of the game when Hackett picked the pocket of Johnson and raced down the court for the easy fast break lay-in to make the score 36-26 with 5:25 remaining in the first half.
However - the Panthers proceeded to go on a 12-3 run over the next four minutes to cut the deficit to one point at 39-38 following a lay-by by Brian Ezeh with 1:43 remaining before intermission. The Frogs were able to build the lead to six points at 46-40 heading into intermission after Keion Mitchem (Rochester, N.Y./Rochester East H.S.) connected on a three-pointer with six seconds left on the clock.
In the first half of action, the Panthers connected on 66.7 percent (16-of-24) of their field goal attempts while the Frogs notched a 59.3 percent (16-of-27) performance from the field.
The Frogs opened up the second half of action on a 12-3 run to take a 58-49 advantage on the scoreboard following a pair of free throws by Langford with 15:54 remaining in the game. However - the Panthers continued to fight back and cut the deficit to one-point at 60-59 following a 10-1 run highlighted by a pair of treys from guard Aaron Smith.
The Panthers would never be able to get that close again as Salter took over the game as the TCU junior connected on three consecutive three-pointers to give the Frogs a 10-point advantage. The Frogs maintained a double-digit lead on the scoreboard throughout the remainder of the game and held a pair of 15-point margins.
In the end, the Frogs were able to come away with a 92-80 triumph in their final game prior to the Christmas holiday and improve their record to 7-3 on the season.
Jason Ebie (Houston, Texas/Alief Elsik H.S.) finished with a career-high nine points on 4-of-5 shooting to go along with three assists, three steals and zero turnovers in 24 minutes of action. The TCU sophomore came into the game as the only player in the Mountain West Conference to be ranked in the top-six in assists per game, steals per game and assist-to-turnover ratio.
Mitchem finished with seven points in the game while Luke Tauscher (Fort Worth, Texas/Southwest H.S.) also tied a career-high seven points to go along with three rebounds and two blocked shots for the Frogs.
Ezeh finished with a double-double for the Panthers following a 14-point, 12-rebound performance to go along with seven assists in 38 minutes of court action. Arlington, Texas, native Aaron Smith was the top scorer for Prairie View A&M as the PVAMU guard finished with 23 points, including seven three-pointers in the game, in 32 minutes of action.
The Frogs improved to 7-3 on the 2007-08 season, including 7-1 at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, while the Panthers dropped to 2-9 on the campaign.
The Purple and White will be back in action on Thursday (Dec. 27) when the Frogs welcome Jackson State to the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.
The Go Frog Five (Notes from the DMC)
- This was the second victory in the last nine seasons for the Frogs in the last game prior to the Christmas holiday. The last triumph for the Frogs came during the 2004-05 season TCU notched a 76-55 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
- The Frogs improved their record to 7-3 prior to the Christmas Holiday, which is their best start to the beginning of a season since the 2000-01 campaign when the Purple and White jumped out to an 8-3 start before the holiday break.
- This was the first time that the Frogs scored 90 or more points in their last game prior to the Christmas holiday since the 1997-98 season when the Purple and White posted a 93-54 victory over Iowa State on Christmas Eve.
- Through 10 games this season, the Frogs are averaging 78.0 points per game - including 82.1 points per evening at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
- The Frogs finished with a season-low eight turnovers against the Panthers.
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