Frogs Look for Third Straight Victory at Home
11/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2008
Game Notes - St. Gregory's (Okla.) in PDF Format 
Game Preview
• The TCU men's basketball team will return to the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum for its fourth and final game set to be played on the home court of the Horned Frogs. This will be the first-ever meeting between TCU and St. Gregory's.
• The Frogs and Mustangs can also be heard over the airwaves via Fox Sports Radio 14060AM and KTCU 88.7 FM with Brian Estridge (play-by-play) and John Denton (analyst). Faithful of the Purple and White can listen to the game or view online statistics via GameTracker on www.GoFrogs.com
Christian Wins Debut Game for Frogs
• In his first game as head coach of the TCU men's basketball program - Jim Christian became the 12th coach in program history to capture his first game with the Purple and White. The TCU head coach led the Frogs to a 67-63 victory over Western Michigan - which was their eighth season-opening triumph over the last decade. Christian improved his record to 5-2 in season-opening victories as a head coach.
Frogs Strong at Home Against Non-Conference Foes
• The Horned Frogs have captured 17 of their last 20 games at home against non-conference opponents. In their last 10 games - TCU has posted victories in eight of them with setback coming against a pair of Big 12 Conference-foes in Oklahoma and Nebraska. The other non-conference foe to defeat TCU was SMU on December 21, 2006.
Frogs Ink One on Signing Day
• The Frogs signed Garlon Green (Missouri City, Texas | Hightower High School) to a National Letter of Intent on November 12th. The 6-7 wing enters his senior season as the 19th-ranked prospect in the State of Texas and is the younger brother of Gerald Green, Jr. - who plays for the Dallas Mavericks.
Scouting the Cavaliers
• St. Gregory's (Okla.) comes into the contest with a 0-5 overall record after falling to Friends University, Tarleton State, Drury University, Southwestern Oklahoma State and Central Oklahoma.
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the Horned Frogs and Cavaliers.
International Flavor
• The Frogs have three international players on the roster in John Ortiz (Colombia), Zvonko Buljan (Croatia) and Edvinas Ruzgas (Lithuania). The Frogs have never had more than two international players on their roster at any one time during their history. There have been at least two international players on the TCU roster in each of the last five seasons.
Bigger in Texas
• The Frogs have six players that reside from the State of Texas - including four players from the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Kevin Langford (Fort Worth), Ronnie Moss (Fort Worth), Kevin Butler (Duncanville) and A.J. Siebert (Southlake).
Frogs Claim State Farm DFW Duel
• For the first time in three seasons, the Frogs captured the State Farm DFW Duel with a 62-44 triumph over SMU on Wednesday evening prior to Thanksgiving. TCU snapped a three-game losing streak to the Mustangs and recorded the biggest margin of victory between the two programs since the Frogs claimed a 100-82 on January 26, 1998.
• Ronnie Moss posted his best game as a member of the Purple and White with a career-high 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting to go along with three rebounds, two assists and one steal in 22 minutes of action.
• The Frogs held a 35-25 lead over the Mustangs at halftime - which was the second time in six games that TCU held an advantage at intermission. The Frogs claimed their last two victories after holding the lead at halftime.
The Man Known as "Z"
• Zvonko "Z" Buljan has played a big role for the Frogs in his first season donning the Purple and White as the TCU forward is averaging 8.3 points to go along with a team-high 5.2 rebounds per game. The 6-9 forward scored a career-high 15 points against McNeese State and has posted a double-digit scoring performance in two games this season.
• Buljan came to the United States without speaking a word of English and played two seasons at Vincennes University in Vincennes, Indiana, where he helped his team to a spot at the NJCAA National Championships as a sophomore.
Second Generation Stars
• The Frogs have two players on their roster who have parents who played collegiate athletics in Kevin Langford (Father - basketball at UT Arlington | Mother - basketball at UT Arlington) and A.J. Siebert (Father - football at Northern Arizona).
Home-Friendly Schedule
• The Frogs will play 12 of their final 24 games at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum following the conclusion of their four-game homestand against St. Gregory's on Sunday. TCU has posted a 2-1 mark in the first three games on its home court.
• Aside from the Charleston Classic - the Frogs will not play more than two consecutive games on the road and only one time in the non-conference slate (Indiana on December 10th | Louisiana Tech on December 22nd) during the 2008-09 season.
Experience Matters
• The TCU top-five minutes leaders in Ebie, Moss, Ruzgas, Langford and Buljan have played in 814 of the team's 1,200 total minutes this season or 67.8 percent of all court time.
• The Frogs came into the season with only four lettermen returning in Langford, Mitchem, Ortiz and Ebie - who accounted for 41.6 percent of all minutes played during the 2007-08 campaign or 2,505 combined minutes of action.
Freshman Make Immediate Impact
• Three freshmen have made an immediate impact on the Frogs this season in Ronnie Moss, Kevin Butler and Kavon Rose. Moss has started four games while Butler has become one of the team's top players off of the bench. Rose has given the Frogs' quality minutes off of the bench averaging 3.8 points per game.
Charity Stripe Highs
• The Frogs connected on 27 free throws against Nebraska - which was their highest talley since a 27-free throw performance against Colorado State on February 20, 2008.
• In their last four games - the Frogs have connected on 80-of-104 (76.9 percent) of their attempts from the charity stripe.
• After connecting on less than 70 percent of their free throw attempts in the first two games - the Frogs have connected on 70.0 percent or higher in each of the last four games.
The Shooter
• Edvinas Ruzgas has made a tremendous impact for the Frogs from behind the three-point line as the former Weatherford College standout has connected on a TCU-best 13 three-pointers through five games. The 6-6 guard has also been solid at the free throw line connecting on 83.3 percent (10-of-12).
• In his debut with the Frogs - Ruzgas collected a team-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-6 from behind the three-point line. The TCU guard scored in double figures in three of the team's first six games with a career-high 19 points against Clemson to go along with six rebounds in 34 minutes of action.
• Ruzgas currently ranks first on the team in minutes played per game (34.8 MP-G) and second in field goal percentage (.473) and second in scoring average (12.5).
Big Pappi
• John Ortiz has appeared in all six games for the Frogs and earned his first start of the season against McNeese State. The 6-8 forward competed in a season-high 14 minutes against Western Michigan and scored a season-high six points at the ESPN Charleston Classic against the host-team College of Charleston.
Overhaul on the Boards
• One of the areas of improvement that Christian has stressed to the Frogs have been their presence on the glass. Prior to their game against McNeese State - the Frogs held a +13 advantage over their last three opponents in Clemson, College of Charleston and Nebraska. TCU rebounded with a +6 advantage over SMU.
Tuffy Times
• TCU newcomer Ronnie "Tuffy" Moss originally signed with Kent State, but was granted his release and signed with the Frogs after Christian was announced as the new head men's basketball coach for the Purple and White.
• Moss became the first freshman since Femi Ibikunle in 2003-04 to start his collegiate debut for the Frogs and only the third freshman this decade to earn a spot in the starting lineup in his first game (Corey Santee | 2001-02).
• One of the team's best on-ball defenders - Moss ranks fourth on the Frogs in scoring average (7.8 P-G) and fifth in minutes played per game (21.5 MP-G). The Fort Worth native has started four of six games this season.
KB Energy
• Duncanville standout Kevin Butler has provided the Frogs with plenty of energy and production coming off of the bench in his first season as the 6-6 forward has averaged 22.0 minutes per game in addition to 5.0 points per game. The TCU newcomer has seen at least 20 minutes of court time in four of the last six games.
• Butler had a tremendous performance against ACC-opponent Clemson as he posted a career-high nine points - including 2-of-2 from behind the three-point line - to go along with six steals, four rebounds and two assists.
• The TCU rookie is ranked first in the Mountain West Conference in steals per game at 2.2 picks per evening and has the highest-steal tally in a game this season with six against Clemson.
Smells Like Roses
• Kavon Rose was the final freshman to commit to the Frogs during the summer months after he was released from his National Letter of Intent from Oregon State.
• In his first season with the Frogs - Rose has averaged 3.8 points per game to go along with 2.5 rebounds per contest. The 6-2 guard has appeared in all six games and earned his first collegiate start against McNeese State.
Key of the Season
• Keion Mitchem has provided the Frogs' with quality minutes off of the bench this season as he returns as one of four lettermen for TCU. Mitchem has appeared in all six games this season where he is averaging 10.2 minutes.
• Mitchem recorded two games of 10 or more points a season ago - which both of them coming against Air Force. He posted a career-high 16 points on the Falcons' home floor and 10 points in his first collegiate start at the DMC.
Plenty of Minutes to Share
• Of the 10 players to see action this season - eight of them are averaging at least 10.0 minutes per game. Ruzgas is averaging over 30.0 minutes per game while Langford, Ebie, Buljan, Moss and Butler are all averaging over 20.0 minutes per game.
Texas Tops
• In 2008-09 campaign, the Frogs have three freshmen from the State of Texas that were ranked in the top-40 of their recruiting class last season - Ronnie Moss (12th), Kevin Butler (16th) and Logan Lancon (43rd).
The Scoring Touch
• Nine of the 10 players to see action for the Frogs this season have scored at least nine points through six games.
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