Nov. 9, 2007
Game Notes - Angelo State University in PDF Format
Game Day Information
Opponent: The TCU men's basketball program will begin its 2007-08 campaign on Saturday (Nov. 10) as the Horned Frogs welcome Angelo State University to the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.
Radio: KTCU (88.7 FM) and FOX Sports Radio (1460 AM) in Fort Worth/Dallas. Brian Estridge (play-by-play) and John Denton (analyst) will call the game on the TCU/ISP Sports Network. The game can also be heard online at www.GoFrogs.com and viewed on the TCU Athletics website via GameTracker.
Next on the Schedule: TCU will resume its four-game homestand on Tuesday (Nov. 13) when the Horned Frogs welcome Rice University to the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. The contest between the Frogs and Owls can be heard on KTCU (88.7 FM) and FOX Sports Radio (1460 AM) and will be featured on The Mtn. Network.
Horned Frogs Strong in Season Openers
• The Horned Frogs have been a strong team in season openers in the first five years of the Neil Dougherty Era as TCU has posted a 4-1 overall record in the first game of the season. TCU won their season opener - which was also their home opener - against Centenary by a 72-66 count last season.
• The Horned Frogs have recorded an all-time record of 60-36 (.625) in season openers and have also notched a 47-13 (.783) overall record in their home openers. TCU has won 25 of their last 26 homes openers with their lone loss in the span coming during the 2005 season against Tarleton State (59-68).
• In the first game for the Horned Frogs of the season at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum under Neil Dougherty, TCU is averaging 79.8 points per game compared to 66.8 points for opponents. Only one opponent has scored more than 70 points in the home opener against the Horned Frogs over the last five years.
Time to Make a Statement in Mountain West Conference
• In the 2007-08 pre-season rankings for the Mountain West Conference - the Horned Frogs were predicted to finish seventh overall with a total of 58 points, holding advantages over the Air Force Academy (54 points) and Colorado State (33 points).
• Prior to the start of the 2006-07 season, TCU was predicted to finish ninth overall, but the Horned Frogs were able to more than double their win's record from six to 13 at the conclusion of the season.
Frogs Dominant over LCC Time Team in Exhibition Action
• The Frogs were dominant in their lone exhibition game of the pre-season with a 118-54 victory over LCC Time Team - an international University program from Lithuania - on Tuesday (Nov. 6) evening at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
• TCU senior Brent Hackett led the way offensively for the Frogs with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting - including 5-of-11 from behind the three-point line. Hackett recorded 11 of his final 13 points of the first half in a 36-8 run in the final 8:36 prior to intermission. He also added four steals and three rebounds in 17 minutes of action.
• Henry Salter made a nice debut for the Frogs in exhibition action as the TCU junior collected 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go along with four rebounds and four steals.
• The Frogs had four players reach double figures in the game in addition to Hackett and Salter, Ryan Wall collected 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in seven minutes of action, and Jason Ebie recorded 10 points, eight assists, five steals and two rebounds.
• As a team, the Frogs connected on 53.6 percent (45.of-84) of their field goal attempts, including 16 three-pointers, and 10 of the 13 players that scored in the game shot over 50.0 percent. The Frogs had 13 of 14 players score in the game and 12 of those 13 players scored at least five points in the game.
• The Frogs' defense held LCC Time Team to 41.3 percent (19-of-46) shooting from the field, including 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from behind the three-point line. The TCU defense recorded 30 steals while forcing their opponents to commit 47 turnovers in the game.
The Inaugural Meeting Between TCU and Angelo State
• Despite being less than four hours away from one another - this will be the first-ever meeting between the Horned Frogs and Rams.
Scouting the Opponents - Angelo State University
• The Rams will come into the 2007-08 campaign fresh off of the heels of a 9-17 overall record during the 2006-07 season, but came within one win of their first post-season berth in over six seasons.
• Fred Rike returns to the helm for the Rams for his second season. The ASU head coach is extremely familiar with the Horned Frogs' squad as he served as the Associate Head Coach at the University of North Texas for two seasons.
• Angelo State is led by All-American candidate Marcus Hubbard, who earned first team All-Lone State Conference and second team Daktronics All-Region accolades last season. The Ram standout was selected as the Pre-Season Lone State Conference South Division Player of the Year and returns as the team's top scorer at 21.8 points per game as well as their top force on the boards at 8.9 rebounds per game.
• Quinn Barfield returns as the Rams' second-leading scorer from a season ago with a 13.5 points per game average to go along with an average of 6.6 boards per evening.
• The Rams' will get a big boast in their scoring this season with the addition of Cecil County Community College-transfer Denell Stephens, who helped the Seahawks to a 97-8 overall record in his two seasons with the squad. The 6-3 squad averaged a double-double for the Seahawks last season while collecting 12.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per game en route to connecting on 55.0 percent of his field goal attempts.
• Angelo State assistant coach Kenneth Mangrum is the second member of the ASU coaching staff to be familiar with the Purple and White as he played four seasons at the University of North Texas. During his tenure with the Mean Green, Mangrum played the Horned Frogs on four occasions.
• Angelo State will have an experienced player returning at the point guard position during the 2007-08 season as Jerod Haynes returns as the Rams' floor general after missing the final half of the season due to knee surgery. Prior to his departure from the ASU lineup, the Rams had recorded a 7-5 record then went 2-12 without their offensive leader.
• The Rams will also benefit from the return of post player Antwon Williams, who joins the squad after playing one season at Texas State where he led the Bobcats in blocked shots. the ASU forward is also a member of the football program for the Rams.
• In the pre-season rankings for the Lone Star Conference, Angelo State was picked to finish fourth overall in the South Division behind Tarleton State, West Texas A&M and Midwestern State, but slated to finish above Texas A&M-Kingsville, Eastern New Mexico and Abilene Christian.
Home-Grown Talent Pays Dividends for Horned Frogs
• The Horned Frogs will get plenty of scoring from a pair of home-grown talents in senior Brent Hackett (Southwest High School) and junior Kevin Langfield (North Crowley High School).
• The Fort Worth duo come into the season as the team's top scorers as Langford averaged 13.2 points per game while Hackett was listed second in the scoring category with an 11.2 points per evening average.
• Langford and Hackett recorded their best years last season for the Horned Frogs as both players were selected as honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference award winners. The pair recorded 734 total points (Langford - 397 / Hackett - 337) and accounted for 38.8 percent of all the scoring for the Horned Frogs.
• The Horned Frogs will look for big production from another Fort Worth, TX, native in Luke Tauscher, who begins his first season with the program after sitting out last season due to a red-shirt campaign. The 6-11 center is also the tallest member of the TCU squad.
The Battle at the Boards
• The Purple and White were out-rebounded by one board during the 2006-07 season, 1,018 to 1,017, en route to recording their eighth straight season with a positive rebounding margin.
• The last time that the Horned Frogs recorded a negative rebounding margin came during the 1998-99 campaign.
Langford Looking for BIG Junior Campaign
• In his first season with the Horned Frogs, Kevin Langford was selected as an honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference selection after averaging a team-high 13.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
• Langford was selected by CBS Sportsline as a pre-season second team award winner for the Mountain West Conference.
• The Fort Worth, TX, native recorded 21 games of 10 or more points, including 20-plus performances in five of the final 10 games of the season. Langford recorded a career-high 23 points after he connected on 9-of-19 field goal attempts, including 4-of-5 shots from beyond the three-point line, against Wyoming (Feb. 28)
• Langford concluded his sophomore campaign by ranking 10th in rebounds per game, 13th in blocked shots per game and 15th in points per game among all players in the Mountain West Conference.
Back to Full Health - Hackett Ready for Standout Season
Brent Hackett actually had the opportunity to work out with the Horned Frogs during the off-season as part of their strength and conditioning program.
• During his first three years - Hackett has appeared in 92 games and has earned a spot in the starting lineup on 58 occasions, missing only four starts in the last two seasons.
• Hackett scored a career-high 24 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists in TCU's victory over New Mexico (Mar. 6) in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
• A product of Fort Worth, Hackett will be one of the main leaders on the team and should see his scoring average rise with the Frogs' addition of several shooters in key positions.
Welcome to the Parker's
• TCU head men's basketball coach Neil Dougherty is expecting BIG?things from the Frogs' top shot-blocked in Alvardo Parker, who finished the 2006-07 campaign ranked third in the Mountain West Conference in blocked shots per game. The Frogs' post player swatted 61 total shots last season, which were the seventh-most in TCU single-season program history.
• This will only be the fourth year of organized basketball for the Turks & Caicos Islands' native as he spent his first two seasons in organized basketball at Frank Phillips Junior College followed by a single season with TCU.
• Parker recorded his first career double-double (points-rebounds) against UNLV (Jan. 20) with a career-high 20 points to go along with 13 rebounds. In that contest, the TCU?low post standout connected on 8-of-10 field goal attempts and swatted away three attempted shots by the Runnin' Rebels.
TCU Looking to Make Name in National Spotlight
• TCU head men's basketball coach Neil Doughery is not one to shy away from a nationally-ranked opponent as the Horned Frogs have competed against 16 squads ranked in the top-25 during his tenure. To put the numbers into perspective - TCU only played 19 nationally-ranked teams during the entire decade of the 1990s - a span of 303 games.
• The Horned Frogs has recorded four victories over nationally-ranked opponents during Dougherty's tenure with their latest victim coming against the Air Force Academy where TCU notched a 71-66 win in February of 2007.
• TCU is 12-88 (.120) all-time against nationally-ranked teams and has dropped 15 of its last 17 match-ups against teams ranked in the top-25. The victory over the Falcons snapped a six-game skid against ranked opponents.
• The Horned Frogs haven't had much success against nationally-ranked opponents on the road as they have dropped 47 of 48 match-ups when away from the DMC. Their lone victory came against Hawaii (83-79) on January 19, 1998.
Frogs Return Lots of Scoring
• Coming into the 2007-08 campaign, the Frogs will have plenty of options when it comes to putting the ball in the bucket as six fo their top scorers from a season ago return to the lineup in Kevin Langford (13.2 P-G), Brent Hackett (11.2 P-G), Alvardo Parker (8.8 P-G), Neiman Owens (7.1 P-G), Ryan Wall (6.4 P-G) and Keion Mitchem (5.3 P-G).
• The returning scorers for the Horned Frogs will return 1,507 total points from the 2006-07 season - which equals 79.6 percent of their scoring from a season ago.
• When it comes to shooting, the Frogs' returning scorers connected on a combined 42.3 percent (512-of-1,225) of their field goal attempts from a season ago. Three returning players connected on 40.0 percent or higher of their field goal attempts in Parker (54.6 / 118-of-216), Owens (50.0 / 75-of-150) and Langford (46.3 / 136-of-294).
New Faces Begin Life in a New Place
• The Frogs will have several new faces entering their lineup this season that the fans of the DMC will quickly come to know, especially in the forms of junior college-transfers Henry Salter and John Ortiz.
• Salter was a NJCAA All-American third team member last season after finishing fourth in the country in scoring at 24.6 points per game. He was the only player in the country to rank in the top-10 in both scoring and rebounding as he finished sixth with an 11.8 boards per evening.
• Ortiz was a two-year standout at Colby Community College where the Colombian native notched 8.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game while swatting a team-high 41 shots last season.
• Two other new faces that will quickly plenty of notice this season come in newcomers Luke Tauscher and Mike Scott, who coaches believes will play heavily into their plans this season.
• Tauscher red-shirted last season and will give the Frogs a new look in the low post as the 6-11 Fort Worth native has the ability to post up down low, connect on the mid-range jumper and is an excellent shot blocker.
• Scott begins his first season with the Frogs, but is hardly the youngest member of the squad as he is 21-years-old. The TCU rookie is a quick, athletic and aggressive competitor at the point guard-position.
It's All About the Ebie
• TCU sophomore Jason Ebie has made a dramatic improvement from his freshman to his sophomore campaigns, and the Houston native has a foot in the door as the team's starting point guard. In his first season with the Frogs, Ebie averaged just 1.0 points and 0.4 assists per game.
Mitchem Returns to Lineup
• One of the biggest additions to the Frogs lineup will come in the form of sophomore Keion Mitchem, who appeared in the team's first 15 games of last season. When in the lineup, the Frogs' guard provides the team with tremendous energy and a go-go-go attitude on both sides of the floor.
Frogs Set to Take MWC by Storm
• The Frogs could be one of the sleeper teams in the Mountain West Conferece after they return four starters from a season ago, but coaches in the conference still predicted TCU to finish seventh out of nine teams by seasons end.
• Last season, TCU was ranked towards the bottom in the conference in scoring, scoring margin, field goal percentage and free throw percentage, but towards the top of conference in scoring defense, rebounding defense and steals.
The Trey Comes Easy to the Frogs
• TCU has made at least one three-point in 283 consecutive games dating back to the 1997-98 season where the last time that the Frogs failed to connected on a trey came against LIU-Brooklyn on November 22, 1997.
• Prior to the failed connection, TCU recorded a three-point in 217 straight games dating back to the 1989-90 season when the Longhorns of Texas stopped the Frogs on February 11, 1990.
• The Frogs have connected on at least one three-pointer in 510 of their last 511 games.
Home Sweet Home
• The Frogs have posted a record of 386-231 (.627) since the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum opened during the 1961-62 campaign.
• Over the past decade, the Horned Frogs have recorded a 126-56 (.700) overall record and have won at least 10 games at home in seven of the last 10 seasons.
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